Metamorphosis
by Mokana-chan
Summary: No! Sakura screamed. She watched in horror as Kabuto let the needle go sailing toward Kakashi's back. Kakashi!KakaxSaku pairing and other pairings
1. A Glint of Renewal and Plans

Metamorphosis

Chapter 1: A Glint of Renewal and Plans

"Kabuto is it ready?"

The traitor medical-nin stepped forward from the shadows. Kabuto, once a loyal Fire Country Ninja, smiled a smile that read approval and loyalty to his master. He nodded and withdrew from his pack the item his beloved master wanted. In his hand was a medical syringe that held a deep purple liquid that would aid him and his master with their soon advancing plans.

"Its ready Master Orochimaru" he said with a bow. Orochimaru smirked slightly, everything was going to slowly fall into place. His black eyes fell on his apprentice, his once traitor apprentice. Sasuke Uchicha stood a couple feet away from him watching the medical-nin stand before them. He slowly learned that if he betrayed someone as powerful as him, he would learn his lesson. He learned it well; Orochimaru recalled the punishment the Shangarin wielder endured. His eyes glimmered slightly; he turned his attention back to his medic. In part of his punishment, this plan will be also put into affect for his lack of loyalty.

"Good, I want Hatake Kakashi out of the way"

He saw in the corner of his, Sasuke go stiff from the name. He continued on his reprimand.

"You know what to do Kabuto"

The Nin bowed low to the ground as well as the others that were accompanying him in the mission. His group stood up ready for departure.

"Kabuto don't disappoint me this time"

The Medical Nin smiled as his glasses flashed in the fading light.

"As you wish Orochimaru-sama" his voice replied as his silhouette faded into nothing. "Hatake Kakashi will be eliminated"

Sakura tapped her foot impatiently on the wooden bridge she was waiting on. It was about 6 in the morning and she was yet waiting for her team. In the course of the three years she was separated from Naruto, Sakura Haruno had grown into a well acknowledged young woman of 15 years. She grew up, training under the current Hokage, Lady Tsunade, as a Medical Ninja and was slowly becoming a promising ninja. She still had a lot of learning to do but she was learning something new everyday.

Sakura leaned over the bridge railing to glance down at the running stream under her. In her year's growth, she grew about a foot in the course of three years. Her hair was a little longer but it wasn't back to its original long length before she was forced to cut it off. Her attitude changed too, though from time to time old Sakura would come out if she was really angry or impatient. Before she didn't think things through and acted upon emotion, now she thought through things logically and strategically.

Sakura also changed her outfit due to growth spurt and line of work. She opted the black sandaled boots, a pale rose colored skirt that had slits in the sides for mobility, and a somewhat loose sleeveless vest that bore the familiar white circle on the back. On her hands she wore black gloves with white elbow guards to protect her arms from any rough movement. She wore short leggings with her kunai pack strapped to her right leg as well with a waist pack on her left hip that carried some medical supplies and on the rare occasion a scroll.

Sakura pushed a loose strand of pink hair behind her ear. She glanced over to her left shoulder. Nothing. She glanced over her right shoulder. Nothing. She sighed slightly.

"3…2….1…"

"Gotcha!"

She moved once she got to 1 so she could surprise the certain noodle loving ninja. She heard a yell, splash, and a very nice strand of curses float up from the water. She smirked as she repositioned herself on the other side of the bridge awaiting her yellow haired companion.

"When the hell were you able to do that?!" he asked jumping up onto a bridge post so he could crouch on it like cat. Sakura grinned at her friend. Naruto would and will forever stay Naruto, that was if he matured suddenly.

In his three year absence, Naruto didn't change that much. He still wore orange on a daily basis and his headband was black with the exceptionally long ends that trailed down his back. He too got taller and older looking. His fighting also improved from his ego emotionally run moves to that similar to Sakura's that were intentional and planned out. Except he had the chance to train under a well know Elite Jounin while Sakura trained under a Hokage that had to balance ruling a Country and train a apprentice.

She tilted her head at him and cracked a smile at him as she watched him shake off the water like a dog. She closed her eyes from the flying water.

"You're just too predictable"

She looked up into the sky to take a look at the sun, it was about 6:30 already and their teacher had yet to arrive. Kakashi, the famous Copy Nin and Sharigan User was still hanging around Konoha but a person rarely saw him except in the local pub talking to his other elite friends or on the rare occasion he would be coming home from grocery shopping and would stop to rifle through a magazine stand to find his beloved Icha Icha.

Sakura let the sun fall on her neck as she leaned a little more on the railing; she loved the early mornings. She found them refreshing with each new start of the day. Hearing a poof to her right signaled her teacher's surprisingly early arrival. Good thing for her and Naruto they were told they were being assigned with Kakashi. Due to having him as their Gennin teacher, they knew his habits of always running late to rendezvous points. They were scheduled to leave 7:00 this morning but they told Kakashi to meet them at the bridge at 5:00 to make their journey on time.

"Yo!" greeted their teacher with the familiar gesture of waving a hand to them. He halted his greeting noting the absence of the regular "You're Late!" serenade from his former pupils. Instead he was greeted with cool and calm smiles from the both of them as they exchanged glances. He looked around him making note to see if the very spot he appeared on wasn't booby trapped.

"You're….." Naruto started taking a glance over to his pink haired friend. She only gave him a half grin.

"…on time…..for once" she finished nonchalantly. Their teacher looked at them with a crinkled eye telling them his surprise. "So…what's the plan?"

"Yes…about that"

He took his normal position of slouching a little and slipping his hands into his pant pockets. Sakura would call him young; he after all is still considered the most desirable bachelor in all of Konoha, not including a certain Genma that had his way with women.

From the glimmer in his one eye, which he didn't conceal with his headplate, told her that it was young. Even though it was still was about an 18 year difference between her and Naruto. He wasn't that old when compared to both of their teachers who in their late fifties and plus some.

Nobody has seen him with his mask off, and she bet even Tsunade the Goddaime hadn't either, maybe she should ask her when she's on another sake escapade. Sakura fondly remembered the times she and the boys tried to get Kakashi without his mask on. She halted her thinking when a memory of Sasuke came to her mind.

"We are called onto an A-ranked mission" Kakashi said shattering her reminiscing.

Sakura raised a pink eyebrow. The last time they were called on such a high ranking mission they had to save a fellow Shinobi, Gaara of the Desert, and also take down the much hated secret group Akatsuki, well attempted to that is.

"We are to do a strict escort of a well liked personage coming from across the seas"

"Do we know who this 'well liked' person is?" Sakura asked. She really didn't like the sound of this one. To her surprise Naruto remained silent throughout the entire briefing, well so far let's say the least.

"He's a rich merchant by the name of Cairo Manaka. He comes across the seas once every three years to trade and also to hopefully expand his trading company"

She heard Naruto shift from his position.

"They want us to escort him?" he asked. Sakura was wondering this too, why would they have only two Chuunin's and a Jounin escort someone so important? They could just hire an ANBU squad to take care of it. Also save the trouble for two still learning ninja's.

"I thought it strange too, but they asked for us"

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Well, he apparently heard about you two from a certain little prince from a certain little island"

Sakura remembered the little prince that they had to escort and also save his overrun kingdom, back then they had Rock Lee with them at the time. She stood up from her leaning position and settled her hands on her hips with her feet spread apart.

"This is all your doing Naruto, not mine"

She said this while turning her attention to the demon carrier. He looked at her with a look of accusation. He narrowed his eyes at her to remind her of the duty they were assigned to back on that mission.

"Hey, it was also your job to protect the little brat"

"But I wasn't the one that got us—"

"What's done is done" Kakashi said stepping between the two Shinobi. "We are to pick up our client at the edge of Sound Country and then escort him back to Konoha"

Sakura halted her chakra collection into her fist; she didn't even know she started concentrating it to her favored fist. She let a forced sigh escape her lips.

"Wait, he's coming here?"

"Apparently, he wants to speak to the Goddaime about opening trade up here"

"Is he going to need us to escort him back?"

"I don't think so, if I remember correctly from the briefing, he tends to move then to Sand Country to talk to a certain Kazekage"

"Good luck with that" Naruto replied while slipping his hands behind his head in a huff of satisfaction. Sakura shot him a glance to quiet him. He saw the look and his smile faltered.

"Fine, well let's get a move on" she said turning her attention back to her former teacher. He only nodded his head in understanding.

"Well, we're off"

Sakura flew atop of tree branches with a steady speed to that of Naruto's and Kakashi's. They were scheduled to meet up with their client the very next day around noon, so they could travel at an easy pace so they would not strain themselves upon arrival.

Sakura jumped higher up a tree to catch up with the boys, she still thought herself weak but it was slowly dawning on here that she was comparing herself to two very different people. Naruto was a living carrier vessel that held the feared Nine Tailed Demon. Kakashi was well known as an elite and ANBU which he joined at a young age, but he was widely known as the Ninja that could copy 1000 jutsu's. But Sakura was able to do things that her comrades couldn't do like her outstanding ability with the controlling of one's chakra and also she was also considered the strongest kunoichi in Konoha. She also was becoming a very well known and liked Medical Ninja who was ranked very high in the Hospital list. She was said to even overpower Tsunade with due time and training.

She jumped to another tree when she saw something flicker out of her corner of her eye. Turning her attention to the whizzing trees around her, she saw nothing except for blurs of brown and green. Sakura narrowed her eyes, she saw something but it suddenly disappeared from view. She turned her attention back to the path ahead of her, when she saw it again. Except this time it was something black, her eyes darted over to look to her left. Nothing there. Sakura brought up a hand to her head piece.

"Naruto" she said into the microphone. Around her neck was a transmitter that ever Shinobi wore when they were in groups and in case they needed to get a hold of each other they used radio transmitters.

"Yeah" his voice crackled in reply.

"Have you been seeing black shapes in the trees?"

There was a pause over the channel.

"No…..I'm not sure what you're—"

His voice suddenly cut off, Sakura halted her tracks on a tree limb in anticipation.

"Naruto?" she said urgently into the piece. "What is it? What did you see?"

"I just saw something come out of the trees"

Sakura's heart leapt, why was she the first one to notice them and not Naruto or Kakashi?

"Kakashi-sensei? How about you?"

She continued her tree hopping to stay close with the boys. She propelled herself up onto another higher tree, waiting for her teachers reply.

"God, what's taking him so long? He's probably reading those perverted books" she muttered. She jumped onto another tree and vaulted over a low hanging branch.

"No, I am not" came a very annoyed Kakashi over the head set. Sakura nearly ran into a branch, she thought she was muttering to herself but she saw that she was still holding down the speak button.

_Nice going stupid_ Inner Sakura laughed.

"Shut it" she snapped at her.

"We need to regroup" Kakashi replied calmly. "Now"

You didn't need to tell Sakura twice. She jumped up on another branch to rejoin with Naruto, she noticed that the trees were rapidly thinning out and she could see a cliff drop telling them their almost arrival at Sound Country. Sakura glanced over at Naruto and saw that he had an unsure look upon his face, telling her that something or someone was indeed following them.

They jumped off the last branch they were on and landed a couple hundred feet away from the cliffs edge. Kakashi soon joined them, his face told her something but she couldn't place it.

"We're being followed" he said. Sakura nodded and silently drew a kunai out of her leg holster. The three of them had their backs turned to each other so they could cover the same amount of ground so no one could sneak up on them.

Kakashi looked over at Sakura; he didn't know how Sakura noticed their followers before him. He was amazed to how much she changed as a young women, he still could only remember her as the careless little Gennin he used to train. He pushed the thought aside and looked back over to the forest. He could sense five things in there and maybe more if they covered up their chakra signatures.

"We're surrounded" Naruto said as he slowly drew his hand to his leg holster. Sakura looked over her shoulder but couldn't see anything. Then quickly she felt five rapid moving chakra signatures climb up from the cliff side.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, why were they being followed? She felt something in her shudder as she drew her attention back to the forest in front of her. Her insides recoiled to the sight she saw.

"Kabuto" she spat.

The medical-nin only smiled at their group.

"My, My, Hatake Kakashi when did you return training Gennin's?" he asked. His glasses flashed in the sunlight this made Sakura's stomach turn more.

"They are no longer in my care"

Sakura drew in a breath.

"Why is he just standing there?" she thought. "Something is wrong here"

"Shame, just an absolute shame"

She felt Naruto shift his position, she knew that he wanted to very badly retort from the comment. Their time was nearly up for getting Sasuke back that is if he went back to Orochimaru to gain more power in hopes to kill his brother.

"What have you done with Sasuke?" Kakashi asked evenly. Sakura's eyes drifted up to her teacher, she wasn't the only one thinking this.

"Oh, he's fine" Kabuto replied, he then chuckled. "But he had to relearn what it means to have absolute loyalty to my Master"

"You sick bastard" Sakura said. She caught herself, she didn't mean to talk. She was supposed to stay quiet and keep an eye on their surroundings.

"Why if it isn't the brat that is being apprenticed by the famous Lady Tsunade"

Sakura tightened her grip on the grasped kunai she held in her hand. How dare he speak her name.

"What if I am" she spat back, she was only getting herself in trouble talking to him but how he insult her and her teacher.

"I just wonder if your skills are greater than that of your teachers"

Sakura clenched her jaw, what was he trying to do? He was trying to get her to attack first to draw her away from the others so they could attack in separate groups. That was not going to happen.

She sliced her eyes over to Naruto; he was as tense as she was. Waiting for the time to attack and end this mans life. She drew her attention back to Kabuto and that was when she felt it.

"It's a trap!" she screamed, just when the ground they were standing on exploded and sent them into the air. Sakura got the wind taken out of her as she flew into the air. She greedily took in the missed air as three rouge ninja came in her direction. She drew more kunai out of leg holster and threw a shower of steel down onto her attackers. One unfortunately was hit in the throat but the other two evaded the threat and still came toward her. Sakura quickly brought her hands up to create a double of herself but her ankle was grabbed and she was thrown back toward the rumble and wreckage. Instead she flung a crescent kick in her attacker's direction and sent him flying. She crashed to the ground but she quickly rolled back onto her feet. She quickly looked around her to see Kakashi and Naruto being overrun with thugs.

"What is his plan?" she thought. She drew a shuriken out of her pack as well as some more kunai and got back into the fight. Her only attacker that she dealt with came charging in her direction. She waited till he wasn't but a couple feet from her did she threw her weapon as him, one landed in his throat as he crumbled to the ground. She charged in the direction of Kakashi to hopefully fend off some of his attackers.

"Wait, where is Kabuto?" she thought frantically. Throughout the skirmish, he was nowhere to be found. She was no more than 10 yards from Kakashi when she saw Kabuto appear from behind him. "He's after him! I got to get there!"

She began pouring chakra to her feet to get there faster. No more than 5 yards away, Kabuto reached into his pack to pull out…………a needle?

Sakura let the kunai she had in her hand fly toward him but it was intercepted by her other attacker that she kicked earlier. He fell to the crumbled floor in a mass of blood.

"No!" she screamed. She watched in horror as Kabuto let the needle go sailing toward Kakashi's back. "Kakashi!"

He spun around to a mass of pink hair fly behind him. Sakura felt a sharp pain go through her upper chest. Sakura staggered from the blow, Kabuto faced her with an anger filled expression. But it was short lived due to Naruto coming from behind and gave him a double crescent kick in the back.

Sakura collapsed onto the ground with the device still in her chest, she was barely fighting consciousness. She saw Kabuto's body go flying over toward the cliffs edge, too bad he didn't fall down. Everything was swimming, what was in that syringe? She felt something under her; Kakashi had her body being supported by his in attentions to keeping her elevated.

"Sakura, stay awake, stay with me Sakura"

She was barely listening, her eyes were on Kabuto. What was he trying to do to Kakashi? She watched the medical-nin get up and turn to face the group. What was left of his group surrounded him. She could barely see his face but what she saw read hatred and revenge. His voice barely reached her but she heard the promise,

"Kunoichi, you'll be sorry when we meet again"

She didn't know what he meant by that but all she saw before she passed out was a blur of orange and black running in her direction.


	2. Metamorphosis

My bad, my bad. Sorry for spelling the name wrong. I just forgot to change the spelling when I uploaded the thing. But now its fixed, so no worries. Hehe! Well here's the new chapter.

Chapter 2: Metamorphosis

Whispers came to her mind, slowly pulling her out of her induced sleep.

"Where am I?" she thought. "Whose voice is that?"

Sakura's senses slowly came back into focus. Her mind was still swirling but she could feel something soft under her and the scent of antiseptic cleaner came to her nose. Only one place could have that smell and that was a hospital, she was back in Konoha. She slowly opened her eyes and found the glaring lights of a hospital room above her and the all too familiar humming they created. She heard the whispers stop and a shift of movement came to her bedside.

"Sakura?"

She slowly turned her head in the direction of her the voice and found her teacher, Tsunade hovering over her with a worried expression written on her face.

"Good you're awake"

She felt a hand go to her forehead to check her temperature.

"Temperature seems normal, you don't appear to have any signs of trauma or stress"

Sakura swallowed but found it difficult due to the cotton mouth feeling on her tongue. She tried to sit up but found it excruciatingly difficult due to the searing pain in her chest. What was she hit with? An iron fist? It was only a syringe that she was wounded with, then why is she in so much pain?

"Oh, yah he delivered it like a punch...duh" she thought.

_Took you long enough _Inner Sakura replied. She ignored the comment and forced herself to sit up in the bed. Tsunade handed her a cup of water and watched her pupil down the water.

"I didn't see any signs of whatever was in that syringe in your system"

Sakura handed back the empty cup.  
"Have you any idea what was in it?" she asked in a whisper. The blonde shook her head.

"No, we believe that it was made to only target Kakashi but we don't know because the syringe didn't have any traces of whatever substance it held"

"I am going to be alright? Since we don't know what was injected in me?"

"Give you one more day and you'll be discharged and back on your feet by next week"

Sakura sighed and looked back up at her teacher.

"Thank You, senpai"

Her teacher nodded and headed over to the door, she opened it and took a step outside.

"Sakura"

She looked up at the women.

"Don't be as reckless next time"

Sakura smiled and nodded her head and watched her teacher leave the room.

"It's good to see you awake, Sakura"

She jumped from the voice; she looked over to her window and saw the Copy Nin leaning up against the wall of her hospital room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a high whisper. She grimaced from the pain.

Kakashi gave an annoyed look.

"Can I not come and see one of my old pupils when they are not feeling well?" he replied.

Sakura bit her lip from the remark.

"Yes, but…….I thought you hated hospitals"

She watched the Copy Nin's eye crinkle into a smile.

"Yes, if I'm the one in need of attention"

Sakura giggled but stopped due to her inflicting more pain unto herself. She forgot how much it hurt to have bruised ribs. She felt a bump and a mutter from under her bed.

"Wake up Naruto, she's awake"

Sakura tried bending over to see but a yellow and orange blur shot up from under the bed and encircled her in a tight embrace.

"Oh, Sakura-chan! Thank Kami you are awake" he said into her hair. Sakura could barely hear him due to her ribs protesting to the extra pressure they were enduring. "When you fell unconscious, I became so worried that you wouldn't wake up!"

"Naruto" she said between clenched teeth. "Let go of me"

He froze and instantly jumped back realizing his actions. He stood there scratching the back of his head with a slightly red face.

"Sorry, my bad"

Sakura took in a slow breath and regarded the two men in front of her.

"Do you need anything?" Naruto asked. Sakura shook her head. "Because I'll get you anything if you need it. Ice chips? Are you hungry? You know it was only this morning that you had your last meal. I'm sure that the cafeteria would still be open for lunch. You know I think they had ramen for lunch, I'll make sure to get two bowls we can have lunch toge—"

"I think it's time that we leave Naruto" Kakashi said walking toward the door and ending the boys ranting. Sakura could only shake her head at the both of them.

"But I just woke u--"

"You're not the one in bed"

Sakura smiled slightly at the two of them.

"I'll still be here Naruto, come by tomorrow" she said gently. Her whiskered friend looked at her with a worried expression and sighed.

"Alright, I'll go and let you get your rest"

Sakura nodded at him as she watched her teacher and comrade walk out of her room. She shook her head and rearranged her covers.

Someone cleared their throat at the door; she looked up and found Kakashi.

"What?" she asked wondering his lingering presence. He looked down the hallway and came back into the room and closed the door behind him. Sakura narrowed her eyebrows slightly; even for Kakashi this was a bit strange.

She watched him a bit but found his gaze a little unnerving; she looked out her window, telling her that it was around early evening, and then she returned her attention at her teacher.

"Did you leave something, sensei?"

He shook his head as he came over to her side of the bed. Sakura looked up at him but found him looming over her a bit unsettling and she returned her gaze to her clasped hands in her lap.

"Why did you do it?" he asked. Sakura looked up at him a bit surprised; this was a bit out of character for him. But the thing that surprised her was the emotion in his voice.

"Did what?"

She saw him narrow his eye slightly, realizing what he was talking about she continued.

"Oh, that… well…..I…….."

Sakura paused and looked down at her lap. Why did she do it? Maybe it was just an uncontrollable reaction of hers of taking a hit for a fellow Shinobi. She racked her brains for a possible answer.

"Uh…..I guess I did it by reaction"

She looked up at her teacher, taking note of the slouched position and laid back presence.

"I do have the tendency to take hits for other people" she said with a slight smile. She saw that Kakashi didn't smile or change expression. She looked back down at her lap. "I'm sorry….I know I shouldn't have done it"

They sat in silence for a bit till she heard him shift and emit a sigh. She looked back up at her teacher and found him looking at her still. Was he mad at her? She really didn't mean to take his hit for him, she just did. She couldn't tell if he was mad at her due to that blasted mask of his that he had on. Sakura began clenching her blankets into her fists due to the silence.

"Just don't do it again okay?"

Sakura sighed, he wasn't mad at her. But inside she knew that he was taking to blame for her injuries. She quickly nodded her head in understanding, promising to herself that she wouldn't do it again. She looked back up at him.

His eye crinkled back up into a smile as he ruffled her hair. Sakura ducked her head and allowed him to; she smiled slightly liking that they got over their differences. The ruffling stopped as Sakura lifted her head to see his back facing her in the doorway. She let out another sigh and rearranged the blankets around her to make them more comfortable.

"Oh, and Sakura…"

She looked up again. His back was still facing her but she could see the side of his face looking over at her.

She sat in her spot waiting for his reply.

"…thanks…"

With that he stepped out of her room and closed the door leaving her alone in her room. Sakura blinked at the door, and then carefully she laid back down on the bed. She gently leaned over to her side facing the window.

"He thanked me….." she said softly to herself. "….I bet that took a lot of courage for him to do that…."

She brought a hand gently up to her face.

"Why is my face hot? Am I blushing?"

_I don't know maybe just because your teacher just thanked you for possibly saving his life_ Inner Sakura offered.

"You're right"

_Maybe it's just a side affect to your wounds_

"It could be that too"

But right now I need to get to sleep. Sakura closed her eyes and silently went back into the gentle arms of sleep.

Sakura feel asleep and didn't wake till about noon when Naruto stormed into her room proudly proclaiming his arrival and also their promised lunch of ramen. She sat up and rubbed her eyes from her sleep.

"Good Afternoon!" Naruto said with his familiar smile. Sakura only grinned at him. "Feeling any better?"

Sakura cataloged her pain, there was pain still there but she was able to move a lot and if she decided to suddenly do the Bell Test then she was going to be in pain. She crossed her legs in the bed to make room for him to join her; he happily obliged and hopped onto the bed.

"A lot better, thanks"

"That's good"

Sakura went through her ramen and glanced over at Naruto baiting whether or not to tell him what Kakashi told her when he left. He looked up and noticed her look.

"Wanted to tell me something?"

She blinked at him and opened her mouth, but then closed it.

"I think it was more personal, so Naruto will have to wait" she thought as she shook her head. Naruto just tilted his head in question and continued eating his ramen bowl. He finished his bowl and dug around in the bag that he brought and brought out another ramen bowl. Sakura only rolled her eyes at him as she finished hers.

The door opened and both eyes looked over to see the Hokage enter. She smiled at the two and walked over to the foot of the bed to look at Sakura's chart.

"Feeling alright today Sakura?" she asked looking up from her chart reading. Sakura only nodded due to her mouth being full of ramen. "That's good, well I got your tests back and they are a go. You can go home today if you like"

"Thank you Goddaime-sama"

Her teacher only nodded at her pupil as she signed off on her chart.

"Well, I'll be seeing you in a couple of days. Try to stay out of trouble" she said as she left the room. Sakura smiled at the comment and turned her attention back to Naruto.

"So that's a go then? You can go home?"

She nodded.

"Apparently"

"That's great! I'll walk you home!"

"That would be great"

She glanced out of her window. Whatever was in that syringe didn't do anything to her, but what would have happened if Kakashi was the one that injected?

Sakura waved at Naruto as he walked off toward his home. The sun was about one in the afternoon and Sakura wanted to go back to sleep. She smiled at her friend for his kindness, Naruto may be reckless sometimes but when it came to taking care of his friends he was always sincere about it. She turned to unlock her door when her stomach cramped a little. She glanced down at it; it started to bother her right after lunch. Well hospital food wasn't the best thing in the world; she still was hyped up on some painkillers from the day before. She pushed her way into her house and padded her way up to her bedroom.

For the three years that she was growing up both of her parents were dead. Her father and mother were one day taking a vacation to Wind Country but they were ambushed by Rouge Sound Nin's and both were killed. Sakura was at the time was doing a side mission for Tsunade all the way in Sand Country; she had no way of getting there in time. So she spent the rest of her days by herself and took their deaths very hard when she returned home. Luckily Ino was here as well as Tsunade when she was in grieving. All of her other friends stopped by too to check up on her and stayed for a cup of tea to be with her. She thanked them for that and also their courtesy for not talking about her parents deaths.

Sakura looked at her desk and spied the photograph that had both of her parents in it. They both were smiling at her; she remembered when she took that picture. It was a little before they left for that trip that ended their lives; it was sunny when they left. Sakura shook her head from the memory and moved over to one of her dressers so she could slip into a night t-shirt.

"What am I going to do tomorrow?" she said to herself. She walked back downstairs to get some water going for tea. Her stomach began to really bother her. She put her hand to her stomach from the pain. "That is the last time I eat hospital food"

She turned the kettle on and went around getting a cup ready. She reached up for a cup and found her hand shaking. She halted her reach to look at her hand.

"What is wrong with me?"

Her stomach turned in response; she discontinued her reach for a cup and made her way to her medicine cabinet to reach for a stomach reliever. She took the small bottle down to read the label but her stomach was turning too much for her to even concentrate to read it.

She stopped and settled the bottle back on the counter; she headed to the bathroom but before she left she quickly turned off the stove. She didn't know how long she was going to be. Her mind began to spin as she made her way back up the stairs to her upstairs bathroom. She stopped in the middle of the stairwell to lean up against the wall to catch her breath and to also hopefully stop the vertigo.

"God, I don't feel that great" she said with a forced breath. She quickly finished her climb and headed to the bathroom. Her vision was swimming so badly her knees buckled making her land on her bathroom floor. "I really don't feel good"

_You're telling me_ Inner Sakura said as she doubled over from the pain.

Sakura dragged and crawled over to her toilet. Her stomach was hurting so bad she didn't know if she wanted to hurl first or use it. Her body was shaking and sweat was forming on her forehead.

"What… is….wrong…with me?" she thought slowly. "A bad case….of….food poisoning?"

She shook her head but really regretted that she did because it caused her world to start spinning even more. She clutched her head and her stomach; she very badly wanted to hurl to get the thing that was causing her nausea to go away. Her skin was soon beginning to feel like it was on fire; her body was reacting to whatever was in her to kill its little soldiers from spreading in her body. Sakura laid down on her fuzzy bathroom mat to end the swimming that was happening in her head. She clamped her eyes shut to stop the flashes of colors in her eyes; it really wasn't helping her dizziness.

Sakura silently groaned from the pain she was experiencing, she wanted to very much have this phase of pain to pass.

"I…should have….stayed…….at the hospital"

Sakura curled into the fetal position while holding her stomach. She wanted to just go to sleep and end this pain in her stomach.  
"God….I wish mom….was here" she thought. Sakura cringed from the spasm of pain her body went through, it felt like she was set on fire.

The pain slowly became more and more progressive and soon Sakura had beads of sweat rolling off her face and tears rolling out of her eyes.

"Mom….." she whimpered. "…Mommy…."

But Sakura knew that her mother would not come to her, nor would she ever. The pain became more and more painful with each passing minute. Sakura was soon bawling for the pain to stop, she never experienced anything more painful in her life. It felt like her limbs were being stretched and pulled from some invisible force. Suddenly the pain became unbearable and Sakura started screaming from it. It laced through her body and pulsed like a heart but the pain become sharper and faster. She didn't stop screaming till finally the pain caused her to black out on her bathroom floor.

Sakura thought for a moment before she passed out, was the feeling of fingertips pushing some hair out of her face.

"Mom……"

The silence pounded in her ears as Sakura slowly came too. She slowly blinked her eyes open to get used to the light above her; she was still in her bathroom. She moved her hand up to her face to rub her nose. Her rubbing halted noting the absence of pain; she slowly lifted her head up to test to see if she still had the lightheadedness. None, not even a stomach cramp.

"Thank Kami" she thought as she settled her head back on the mat.

_What the hell was that? _Inner Sakura asked.

"I got no idea" she said as she slowly sat up. Sakura slowly pulled herself back up so she could lean slightly over her sink. "I felt like I just died"

She rolled her head around her shoulders to crack her neck and also relax her tense muscles.

Sakura pulled her shirt away from her to take sniff.

"I smell like sweat, gross" she thought. She glanced at her self in the mirror and screamed.

Naruto walked up to Sakura's house with quickness to his step. It was three days since he last saw her and that included everyone. He even asked around if anyone saw the pink haired girl, they all told him no not since she left the hospital with him when she was discharged. It was roughly about 5:00 in the evening and also he was hoping that she was in the mood to fix him an early dinner.

He narrowed his eyes in worry; he really hoped that she was alright. He even stopped by the old granny to see if she was working but she told him that she hadn't seen her pupil too.

Naruto noticed her house and walked up to the door and banged on it a couple times.

"Sakura! I know you're in there! Open up!" he yelled. He stood outside of the door while getting some looks. No one thought it strange that a whiskered boy in black and orange was banging on a girls door wanting let in. "Sakura! Come on out! I haven't seen you in three days!"

He waited for a minute, he was fed up with the waiting and was about to bang on the door when.

"Go away Naruto!"

He paused at the voice, for some reason it sounded different. Well he hadn't seen her for three days so you would bet it would sound strange.

"I'm not leaving till you come on out and open the door!"

"Just go away, I don't want you to see me!"

Naruto tapped his foot on the ground. This was very unlike Sakura; normally she would open the door and invite him in.

"What is it? Some gigantic zit? Come on it's alright!"

"No!"

"That's it, I want to see you down here with the door open in three seconds or I'm going to begin screaming your secrets to the whole entire town"

He paused to hear her reaction. It was silent. A small crowd was already forming outside of her house.

"Alright! I'll start in 3…..2…..1….—"  
In a flash the door flew open and a black thing shot out and grabbed the surprised Shinobi from outside and pulled him inside.

Naruto stood in her house with his arms crossed over his chest wanting an explanation, as she fiddled with the door.

"What was that?" he asked the hooded figure that was his pink haired friend. He watched his friend peer out of the peep hole to watch the disappearing crowd. "Sakura?"

He looked at the girl in front of him; he was beginning to wonder how long Sakura has been taller than him.

"Shh!"

He paused at the voice, it sounded older.

"Are you sick?" he asked coming closure to her.

"Don't come near me!" she snapped, he stopped. She had a black blanket around her and it also covered her head. She moved into the kitchen with the boy following her.

"Sakura are you sure you're not sick? I mean you are acting really strange"

He watched her turn on the stove to start some water for tea.

"I…I don't know…Yes, I think something is wrong with me"

He raised an eyebrow at the voice again, that was defiantly not the Sakura Haruno's voice that he remembered.

"Are you okay?"

He watched his friend, she still remained silent.

"I need to show you something Naruto"

He tilted his head in question.

"You have to promise to not freak out when I show you"

He narrowed his eyes, he was really confused. He watched her slowly turn to face him.

"What is it that you wanted to show me?"  
He heard her take a sigh.

"This" she said as she dropped the blanked hood off her head.

"Granny!!" he said running into the building. He was already dragging a cloaked Sakura behind him who was really trying with all her might to refuse him but he wasn't about to put up with it. "I need to speak to the Hokage!"

He was already getting looks of confusion from any Shinobi in the building. He ran down the hallway and up another flight of stairs up to the Hokage's room. Shizune was at her desk when she looked up to see the very concerned looking young man.

"Naruto-san? What is going on?" she said getting up from her desk. He flew past her and walked into the Hokages office with the hooded Sakura after him. "Wait a min--"

But before she could finish her sentence the door to the Hokage's office was already thrown open and closed.

Tsunade looked up when she heard the first yell of one of her nicknames. She only had one guess who it was that was calling her. She got up and looked out her window to peer down below for the source of the voice but when her door was burst open with the well known Naruto, her assumption was confirmed.

"Naruto, you do know that you have to set up an appointment to talk to me"

"I don't care! Look at Sakura!" he said pointing to the hooded figure. Tsunade raised a honeyed eyebrow as she lifted a cup of tea from her desk.

"What is wrong with her? She should be fine unless she got herself hurt in the course of three days"

Naruto's eyes got bigger than they already were. Tsunade really didn't have any time to deal with this she already had enough paperwork to finish and send out.

"You call that fine?! You said that nothing was wrong with her!"

The older woman took a sip from her tea as she regarded the cloaked girl in front of her.

"Well, Sakura what is wrong?"

She remained silent.

"I don't know Senpai"

Tsunade raised both eyebrows from the voice.

"I thought maybe you could tell me" she said as she lowered her hood.

Tsunade opened her mouth in shock as the cup she was holding slipped and crashed to the floor.


	3. Getting Used to Everything Again

Remember this story is a work in progress so sorry if any of you are made with the lack of interest in the story. All stories start off as nothing but then become something, so bare with me. Review flames are welcome but keep them as constructive criticism. Thanks!

Chapter 3: Getting Used to Everything Again

"Alright everyone settle down!" Tsunade said as she banged her fist onto the table. "I have something to show you"

The room she was in included every Jounin and ANBU in all Konoha. She needed to get every high ranking Shinobi in, so she could get maybe an idea as to what was going on. The men and women became quiet for their Hokage.

"As you know Kakashi was attacked a few days ago while under a mission assignment. Him and his two….." Tsunade located the silver haired ninja, who happened to be leaning up against a wall next to Gai and Genma, and raised a honeyed eyebrow at him. "…former pupils… In doing their assignment was later reassigned to a different team…causing me great havoc among Konoha and Mr. Manaka—"  
Her rant was cut off by Shizune clearing her throat reminding her why everyone was assembled.

"Anyway" she said pushing a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "We know that the traitor Kabuto was in charge of the attack and made it his goal to target Kakashi, but Sakura Haruno was the one that got the hit

"Kabuto attacked with what appeared to be a medical syringe that was filled with some unidentifiable substance. We believe that the substance was created for the soul purpose to kill Kakashi but we are uncertain since we couldn't find any traces of it in the syringe so none could be tested and also it didn't do anything…harmful… to Sakura….."

Tsunade paused a little and regarded the Copy Nin with a pointed expression. He shifted from his leaning position and got nudged by Genma. She returned her attention to the assembled ninja's.

"Well that's what we concluded but some……unsettling events…occurred over the course of the days…."  
"Nothing is wrong with her we hope?" Genma asked. Tsunade looked at him, reminding herself that Sakura was also known for talking to the well liked Jounin.

"…..No……"

A sigh of relief was felt in the crowd; Tsunade felt a swell of joy go through her. To think that her star pupil treated and cared for so many people. Tsunade looked over to her shoulder at her, she was still hiding behind that blanket of hers, and she thought it would be less shocking if she hid from view.

"But…some….side effects…came up…"  
"What kind of side effects?" Kurenia asked. Tsunade took in a breath, better late than never.

"Sakura…come forward please"

She felt the girl stir behind her but she didn't make a move to move, Tsunade looked over her shoulder with a hardened jaw. She moved and stood next to her teacher. The room was so silent a person could have dropped a needle and everyone could have heard it.

"Sakura….please show them….what happened…."

She looked over at the blonde, she couldn't see her face but she could only guess that it was a look of horror. She nodded her head in support.

Sakura turned her head back toward the crowd and sighed. She took a breath and dropped the blanket that was concealing her.

A loud gasp and a clatter of chairs was heard as people stood up to get a look at the girl.

For the Sakura Haruno, who was standing in front of them, was no longer the well known 15 year old. There standing before them was a full grown woman. Luckily for Sakura, Tsunade gave her a pair of Jounin pants before she came so she didn't feel as vulnerable when only standing in the night t-shirt she had to yet change out of. She wasn't even wearing any undergarments; due to the sudden change Sakura found that all her underwear and bras were too small for her. So she was feeling a bit exposed at the moment.

Sakura pushed some hair behind her ear as she felt people size her up. In her defense, her body totally changed from what it was three days ago. Her arms and legs lengthened causing her to be as nearly as tall as Tsunade. Her hair now was now longer than its original length; it now reached to the top of her rear. Her chest was fuller and her face became slimmer and more defined. Her eyes intensified from their sea green to that of a beautiful deep jade green, her lips turned pinker and her skin still remained its peachy complexion. Her muscle definition was still the same but her legs and stomach was toned with muscle.

She ducked her head from the stares; she didn't want Kakashi to see her like this.

"As you can see Sakura was affected by the substance by rapidly speeding up her growing and aging process. We believe that she is about 28 years old from the sudden jump"

"Is this permanent?" came a very strong masculine voice from the back.

Sakura lifted her head at the voice, it was Kakashi.

"Damn it" she thought. "Why did he have to blab? Damn you Naruto…"

Tsunade slung an arm around her shoulder feeling her discomfort.

"We don't know but I will begin searching through the archives to see if there is any recorded document of this substance"

"When are you going to begin researching?" Ibiki asked.

"Shortly after this meeting is adjourned. I want every available ANBU and Jounin to go through their files to see if any of you have ever stumbled upon this before then report to me afterwards"

A nod of approval went around the crowd; Sakura could feel a certain pair of eyes on her. She dared draw her head up to see who she thought it would be.

"Alright, everyone understand? You are dismissed"

She turned supporting the girl and left the meeting room.

"I want you to return back to the hospital" she said as she walked the girl away from the Jounin building. They were a short distance from the hospital, but Sakura didn't want to go back to a hospital she wanted to go back home, back to the confines of her own bed.

"What am I going to be doing there?" she asked in a whisper.

"We need to figure out if anything else was affected and to also see if this…what ever this is… is reversible"

Sakura ducked her head. She hoped with her being in a hospital it would prevent a visitation of a certain ninja. The sun was already down and the stars were out twinkling in the black sky.

"So I'm just going to be there for testing purposes" she said with a drawn sigh. Tsunade stopped their quick pace to regard the girl.

"I know that this is tiring for you and also frightening, but we need to figure out if we can turn you back to your original state Sakura"

Sakura looked down at the ground. Tsunade sighed and drew her chin up with a hand, she realized now she was speaking to her for the first time at her eye level where she before had to look down.

"Just bare through this Sakura, I know you can"

Her pupil remained silent for a while to sink in her words.

"Alright, senpai"

Tsunade gave a slight smile.

"That's my girl, now come along we need to get you to the hospital"

* * *

Tsunade left Sakura in her room so she could deal with the other Jounin's and ANBU's with the information that would soon be streaming to her.

Sakura didn't feel like sleeping, she was restless because she knew eventually a certain Shinobi was bound to be in her room. Her stomach was in a twist of knots and anxiety. She didn't know what to say to him. Say sorry for causing the trouble and thank you for speeding up her aging process?

Sakura looked down at her bare feet before she continued to look out her open window. She had her back to the door; if he wanted to talk to her he had better talk to her like ever civilized person. She felt like he would be mad at her for taking the hit and also for what happened to her. She didn't want that to happen, she didn't want to lose his friendship. He already meant too much to her, her was more than a teacher he was considered a friend.

She sighed silently and drew in a breath.

"Before you say anything. I'm not mad at you" she said regarding the figure behind her. She heard him step in her room not that long ago, well in truth she felt his chakra signature on the roof for a good 10 minutes till he decided to come down and use her hospital room door.

She heard him take a step toward her; she tensed slightly from his presence. She heard him take a step back from her posture. She took a slow breath of air in and turned to face him.

Her jade eyes fell onto the Copy Nin and she couldn't place his emotion that radiated off him. He wasn't even slouching his usual position that he was known for. She suddenly decided that she didn't like it. She slowly clasped her arms around her due to the feeling in the air.

She watched him take a slow step toward her as if he didn't even know her. Sakura forced herself to stay in her spot to allow him to come close to her. He stopped directly in front of her; his visible eye was intently trained on her form. She now noticed that she was only a couple inches shorter than him. She always thought him tall but now that she was nearly his height he seemed smaller. She saw him raise a hesitant hand up and reached toward her face but it stopped. Sakura only briefly turned her gaze to the hand and returned her gaze back to her teacher. He slowly reached forward and touched her cheek to see if she was real and he wasn't seeing an illusion.

Sakura didn't close her eyes, as much as she wanted to; she kept her eyes open and focused on his face.

"You had no idea what would have happened" she said softly as he lowered his hand. "You had no way of preventing it"

She turned her body away from him and faced the window; she withdrew her arms from around her.

"It jumped my age up to 13 years" she said looking down at her open hands. "To think that it could do that to me…."

She turned back around to face him again. She didn't have the energy to yell at him, so she just confronted him with a soft voice.

"What would have happened to you?" she said looking him in the eye.

"You didn't deserve this, Sakura" he said looking down at her. "I should have been the one—"  
"But you weren't" she replied sharply. She saw him flinch slightly; she had to remember to talk softly because they were in fact in a hospital and it was late. "I was, if it jumped my age to 13 years it could have doubled for you, it could have killed you"

"Then I would have died knowing that I saved one of my students"

Sakura closed her mouth and tightened her jaw. She remained silent for a bit as she looked down at the ground.

"But if you died…what would I have done then?"

She looked up at him and saw that his eye was glazed over with confusion.

"I consider you not only as a teacher… but also as a friend… a comrade. Ever since Sasuke left… ever since both of my parents died…I was alone… But the times you were here… I felt happy because I knew that someone else cared about me. You made my days easier to go by when the people I loved… left"

Sakura didn't know when a tear escaped her eye. She hadn't cried like this in a while, not since Sasuke left Konoha so many years ago. She brought a hand up to wipe the tear away. What she said was true, Kakashi was like her father but also like a friend. He was there to help her and tell if she did something wrong but he was also there to tell her things that only a friend would say.

"So that's why I have no regrets"

She looked back up at him. She still couldn't read his expressions due to the mask. He still remained silent; she let out a sigh and turned to face the window again. That's when her wrist was grabbed to whip her around and the next thing she knew was that she was being held.

It took her by surprise for him to do that sort of thing. He didn't say anything but just stood there holding her, she could tell by the way he held her that it was like he didn't want to let her go. Sakura's hands were at her sides uncertain what to do. She was also very aware of her quickened heart beat and flushed face. She just hoped that he didn't notice that she wasn't wearing a bra under her t-shirt. She could barely see over his shoulder but she turned her head and saw the base of his neck, he was almost resting his head on her shoulder. His arms were firm around her; he almost engulfed her in his arms. His grip on her tightened slightly. Sakura raised her arms and encircled them around his waist returning the hug.

She didn't know how long they stood there holding each other, but it felt like eternity. She closed her eyes and took in his scent. He smelt like wood and the smell only an older man had around him. She opened her eyes again. He felt him stir and lift up his head. Sakura then became aware of his breath on her ear, she held her breath. Her heart beat quickened again.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, and then poof, he was suddenly gone.

Sakura lowered her arms from their previous position, she could still feel where his arms were and the warmth they had.

Sakura brought a hand up to her face. More tears came down her face and fell to the floor. She silently fell to her knees and cried.

Sakura woke that next morning feeling three presences in her room. Before she opened her eyes she recognized two of them, one was Tsunade's and the other was Shizune's. The third she didn't recognize. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up from her hospital bed. Tsunade greeted her with a small smile and averted her attention to the third person in the room.

The person was a man, about in his late thirties with smoky gray eyes that were hid behind a pair of spectacles, and short combed back brown hair. His attire read business and also authority. On his feet were the tradition Shinobi sandals but he had on long black slacks with the Jounin shirt, over it he had a white lab coat on.

"Sakura, I want you to meet Dr. Hikaru Suzuki" Tsunade said nodding to him. Sakura only looked at him, but she didn't like this man already. Even though he didn't say anything, she didn't like him because she knew that he was only here for one thing and that was to test her.

"Do I have to do this Tsunade-sama?" she asked as she drew up her knees. The Hokage only looked at her with saddened eyes.

"I'm afraid so, so far no one has come up with anything yet" she said drawing out a long sigh. "I hope this would narrow our search and at least give us some kind of clue as to what kind of substance you were injected with"

Sakura lowered her head and looked at her drawn up knees.

"Alright, I'm willing to cooperate"

She drew her head up to regard the three people in front of her, she saw Shizune smile and her teacher nod her head. It was Dr. Suzuki's turn to speak.

"Hello Sakura" he said coming over to stand closure to her bed. "As Lady Tsunade has said my name is Dr. Suzuki, and I'm going to be the one leading your testing for today"

Sakura looked up at him with an emotionless face.

"We will start you off with first a brain scan and then have a full body scan to see if anything else was affected"

Sakura pushed back some escaped hair and continued to listen to him, even though what she really wanted to do was go and escape from this prison. No wonder Kakashi hated hospitals, doctors and nurses treated you like you were a third grader. Sakura made note to not treat her patients like this again. Sakura looked up at her doctor, who was still going on on what was going to be tested on her that day.

"…..and I think that is it…" he said flipping a page over on his clipboard. "Do you have any questions?"

"When do I get out of here?" she asked bluntly. Dr. Suzuki smiled slightly, but it vanished when he noticed Sakura's seriousness.

"You are scheduled to leave tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock. If that is it I would like to begin"

Sakura nodded and swung her legs over the side of the bed and slipped off. She had to get used to her senses because everything was higher up and more defined with her now adult senses. Everything was louder, brighter, and closer to her. It was like learning how to walk again. She followed her doctor down the hallway with Tsunade and Shizune closely following.

"This is going to be a long day" she thought as she followed Dr. Suzuki down to the testing ward.

* * *

Tsunade looked out her window and regarded the doctor in front of her desk.

"So you're telling me that nothing else was affected?" she asked. Dr. Suzuki nodded.

"In all the years of my practice, I have never seen anything like this before" he said scratching the back of his head. "Never, it's remarkable that she lived through it. Having a rapid growth like hers would have killed a grown man"

Tsunade silently huffed. Well she did read somewhere that it was said that women had a higher pain tolerance than some men, but she had to yet test that statement. The only known man that she knew that had an incredible tolerance for pain was Hatake Kakashi.

"Was anything damaged in her cranial region?"

"No, that's the other thing that's remarkable"

"What is?"

"Her brain capacity grew, you would think that her mind would stay at its original 15 year old stage but it didn't. It grew just like her entire body did. Sakura Haruno is no longer a young girl anymore, she's now—"  
"An adult" Tsunade finished for him as she drew out a sigh. The Doctor nodded his head as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

"I don't know what to tell you but Sakura is fine, coming from a medical point of view. If you want her to taking some Hormonal Counseling for her to get used to the Hormonal change, I can direct her to another doctor"

Tsunade thought about it for a bit.

"No, I think it would be best if she just went home. I think she's had enough with doctors for a bit" she said taking a seat behind her desk. "Also I think that she can handle it on her own, after all…she's a big girl now"

Dr. Suzuki nodded his head.

"I just hope that she can handle it, the stress and change and all" he said. Tsunade looked up at him from the little information she asked from her Jounin's and ANBU's.

"I think she can…." She said returning to her reading. "But I'm not sure if her friends can…"

She picked up a report scroll and looked at it. A very lengthy pause filled the room.

"Have you found out anything about what she was hit with?"

Tsunade looked up at him.

"No…..nothing at all"

She looked down back at her scroll with an undecided expression.

"Lady Tsunade is there something you're not telling me?"

She took a sigh and reached over to one of her drawers and began rummaging around in it looking for the scroll that she found not that long ago.

"What I said about finding no type of information about the substance was wrong" she said as her hand encircled the scroll. "I did find something but I was hoping that it would be something different"

"What do you mean?"

Tsunade snapped the drawer shut and tossed the scroll over to the man, who caught it gently. He looked at the rolled up piece of paper with confusion before she nodded to him to unroll the thing and read it. She watched his eyes scan the piece of paper and saw them widen a fraction from the content he read. Tsunade brought her hands up and laced them in front of her to prove her point.

"Dr. Suzuki are you familiar with the Serum of Reverse Death?" she asked closing her eyes. She didn't hear a response from the gentlemen in front of her. "I thought so"

She got up from her seat and turned to face her open windows.

"Back during the Terror of the Nine Tailed Demon, there was serum created to reverse the effects of aging. People wanted to live longer than they were supposed to and thus created an elixir they believed to be the Elixir of Life…

"But this serum had tremendous side effects, if taken too many times the body will begin to shut down and cease functioning. It was made for the soul purpose of keeping the old alive for just a bit longer, but some wanted to abuse it. There were those that wanted this substance to not only speed up their aging process but to also turn them back to their original age. Countries all over wanted this elixir for themselves and wanted it altered to better their needs.

"Soon people were becoming young again, but that was when the havoc started. For somewhere along the years the serum was altered to not only speed up the aging process but to slowly kill the person by making them grow older with each passing day. People were soon dying in their sleep due to this… and that was when it stopped"

Tsunade opened her eyes from the story to look at the Doctor and turned to face him.

"That scroll you are holding, I found by pure accident when looking through the Konoha archives. It was hidden among books and documents in hopes to be never found again. It's lucky to have survived this long without being found… but it needs to be burned and destroyed"

"Why can't we use it? Surely we can reverse the effects of Sakura's affliction" Dr. Suzuki said gesturing to the scroll. Tsunade only shook her head and looked at the scroll in his hands. The scroll was a recipe to creating the devastating elixir.

"I thought so too but I read further and in-between the lines. For those that took the serum to speed up their aging, they simply took a reverse serum to change them back. But those people never lived long… they were found dead within two days of taking it"

"Then how was it that Sakura lived? Wouldn't she have died when given that much of the Elixir?"

The Goddaime sighed and rubbed her temples, she could feel a headache coming on. She sighed.

"The only explanation to that is that Kabuto was not expecting to give the Elixir to a 15 year old and also Sakura is young. Her body had still yet to finish growing and you could say that her youth saved her life like she saved Kakashi's"

"He would have been killed if he was hit, wouldn't he?"

She nodded her head as she took her seat again. She heard him sigh as she rested her forehead on her laced hands.

"So Sakura will not be able to change back?"

"No, Sakura is permanently bound in that body and will never turn to her original state again"

She heard him sigh again but she could here the disappointment in it.

"When are you going to assembly everyone and tell Sakura?"

The Hokage looked at the contents of her desk. The papers and scrolls blinked back at her, telling her that it would again be a late night to finish everything.

"I plan on assembling everyone by tomorrow night. Sakura will find out tonight"

"What about the Copy Nin?" Dr. Suzuki asked. Tsunade lowered her eyes and sadly thought about the man.

"He'll be with everyone else; I don't think Sakura would want him to find out with her in the room"

"How do you think he's taking it?"

Tsunade took in a slow breath and let it escape her lips.

"I think that he is taking it just as hard as she is…but on a greater scale"

The two remained silent for a bit letting those final words sink in both of them.

"You can go Dr. Suzuki, I want your report filled out and on my desk whenever your schedule allows it"

"I can have it done by tomorrow afternoon"

"Thank You"

She pulled a scroll to her and began reading it as she heard the doctor turn and leave her office. She took a breath and leaned back in her chair as her assistant, Shizune, came into her room with her pig.

"Tsunade-sama?" she said coming closure to the older woman. Tsunade didn't look up but felt the animal rub against her ankles. She stopped and picked it up and held it in her lap. "Need anything?"

"I want you to send out a notice to assembly all Jounin and ANBU to the Jounin meeting room tomorrow night at 7 o'clock and I want Sakura Haruno in my office by tonight at 8"

"Yes, Hokage" she said with a quick bow of understanding. "Need anything else?"

"No, you can go" she said looking down at the pig in her lap. She heard the door silently close. The Hokage sat in her chair with the small pig in her lap, the silence was deafening around her. Her honey eyes slowly filled with tears as she gazed into the pigs small black ones.

"I'm sorry Sakura"


	4. The Lone Blossom

Thanks for the reviews and the alerts. I didn't know that many people were reading this story!!!!! So enjoy!!! Also a side note its very hard to stay in character for both Sakura and Kakashi. Especially Kakashi, any other writer you probably can relate and agree with me.

Chapter 4: The Lone Blossom

Sakura finished wrapping the athletic tape around her patient's foot.

"There as long as you stay off it for a couple of days, your foot should be back to normal" she said with a forced smile. The young boy only nodded and hopped off her table and limped out of the room with his mother. Sakura sighed slightly. It had been one long month from her 'accident' and she had to yet get used to being in an adult body.

Also all her friends, her once friends, were still avoiding her. The only one that really came up to her was Naruto because he said that he would still be her friend no matter what happened to her. Sakura also believed that he felt it was his fault that she was now an adult and he failed in protecting her.

Sakura sighed a little, to make matters more complicated. She and Kakashi hadn't spoken since he came to her hospital room that night. She was really hoping that their friendship would continue despite the circumstances.

"So much for friends" she muttered as she cleaned up her supplies. When Sakura found out that her 'accident' was non-reversible she went back to her house and stayed there for about a week. She remembered that she didn't eat, sleep, or shower that long. It wasn't till Naruto came storming into her house with a bag of borrowed clothing and demanded that she ate and showered.

Sakura smiled slightly from the memory.

"_What are trying to do?" she asked from her spot on her bed. _

"_I'm getting you ready for work, that's what" he replied coming out of her bathroom from turning on her shower. _

"_Why?"_

"_Because I'm your friend and I care about you" he said throwing the bag of clothing at her. "Those used to be Granny's, I think they will fit. You can borrow her clothes till you have the heart and time to go shopping on your own" _

Sakura opened her eyes from the memory. With Naruto's help she was able to get out of her depression bubble and get out in the open. She just didn't know how hard it would be for everyone to get used to her new form.

For the first two weeks of her returning to the hospital everyone thought that she was some older sister or cousin or something. It took some time for people to realize that she was in fact the original Sakura Haruno, but she was just a bit older looking now. Also the village had to get used to her as well, some people still whispered behind their hands whenever she passed on the street. Children would stop and stare and circle her like she was some new toy in a toy store. But thanks to the elderly and also the Konoha Jounin's the whispers were quieted and stilled.

Sakura settled a longing look out her window, since that time not one of her old friends came near her. Ino came over one day; she knew somehow that Ino came here forced. She talked to her but she had the feeling that Ino was feeling the same way she was, uncertain and insecure. So she distanced herself from all of them, the only one that really informed her of her old friends were Naruto who came to visit her on a regular basis. She thanked him for that numerous times.

Someone knocked on her door halting her recollecting; she looked up to find Tsunade.

"How are you holding up?" she asked crossing her arms over her busting chest. Sakura shrugged her shoulders as she threw her trash away into a bin.

"I'm hanging in there but I still can't get used to the damn hormones"

She heard her mentor chuckle. Being an adult was no different from being a teen, well that is if you went through the growing process. In Sakura's case, you were a teen to bam! an adult in less then 3 years. Sakura had her share of hormones but they were magnified with her becoming an adult so suddenly. One minute she would be fine then the next she would get extremely angry or sad. Gosh, she would hate to know what she would be like when she was on her period. Sakura only shuddered from the thought.

Since she became an adult, she never really smiled that much anymore. She didn't know why, she bet it was due to all her friends avoiding her like the plague.

"Your body is still adapting to the change so you're going to be experiencing some mood swings for a couple days. Give your body about a month to adjust and you'll be about normal" Tsunade said looking down the hallway. "I also came by to talk to you about your last medical exam"

Sakura turned her head in question to look at her teacher. She remembered the last exam she had; it was over the last few months of teaching from Tsunade and also her medical examiners. She remembered for the longest time her studying for the exam, but once she had it in front of her she found it exceedingly easy to complete. She was beginning to wonder if it was swapped to make her feel really stupid with all the easy questions.

"I just got done talking to your other mentors and your results on the test were extremely high"

Sakura raised both eyebrows at the statement; she had to be joking, she never done that well on tests.

"Are you sure you had the right test?"

"I double checked the name to make sure it was yours. Some of the questions on that test covered things that an intern would later get, you answered those questions perfectly. You also came up with two new solutions on the two situation-treatment questions. It also showed that you had a strong skill in counseling"

Sakura nodded her head remembering those questions. You were given a situation and were told to answer the question by what you had to do and how to treat the patient. Sakura thought that some of the methods of treatment were a bit meticulous. With the counseling question, she filled the entire space that was provided and had to ask to get a separate piece of paper.

"So what does that mean?" she asked. Tsunade sighed and looked at her pupil.

"I asked if it was possible for you to be moved and promoted to Head Nurse on this floor"

Sakura opened her mouth in surprise.

"I also put in for you to work under Dr. Suzuki, you already know him, but I think he is in need of a nurse and assistant. He's always swamped with stuff and his last assistant left on maternity leave, so he's in need of help. Well see about you getting some counseling work in"

Sakura's mind was reeling; she was just promoted to medical nurse to Head Nurse and Assistant to Dr. Suzuki. She wasn't even sure what she was going to specialize in when she was a 15 year old.

"What will happen to me?"

"You will get your own office so you can be away from prying eyes and also get used to the feeling of being independent"

"When do I start?"

"You can start tomorrow if you like, what do you say?"

Sakura's stomach was flipping due to the excitement and surprise of being promoted so early in her medical career. She smiled at her teacher, she felt like jumping and screaming to the world for her excitement.

"I'll do it! Oh, wow….gosh, I don't know what to say…thank you so much senpai" she said smiling and bowing very deeply. When was the last time did she smile?

"Good" she said turning and walking away. Sakura smiled and looked out the window. "Sakura"

She looked back at the blonde.

"It's good to see you smiling"

Sakura smiled as she watched her teacher turn and leave.

* * *

Naruto walked down the street to meet up with Sakura that day for lunch, it was now about a month and a half since her 'accident' and he was getting really frustrated. Not one of his friends or her old friends would come and talk to her. Not one. He pretty much had to beg Ino to come over to her house that one time, which really went over well, they barely said anything and he got an ear full by her the next afternoon.

"What is the deal?" he said putting his arms behind his head. "She's still the same Sakura…. but just a lot….. older looking"

He was happy for Sakura since she was promoted up to Head Nurse at the hospital and also her becoming an assistant to this Dr. Suzuki. He could only do so much by telling everyone else about her, they would only smile and nod their heads whenever he mentioned her name. From what he was told from Sakura, she was happy with her new promotion. She was able to do more independent work and also learn a lot more about counseling which she really was getting into.

He sighed and looked over to his left to the red bridge Team 7 used to meet up on every morning whenever they had a mission. He stopped seeing a very unfamiliar sight; there standing on the bridge was Kakashi. When was the last time did he talk to the silver haired Jounin? When was the last time did Kakashi talk to Sakura?

Sakura didn't say that much about their old teacher but he knew that she wanted to at least say hello and talk since the last time she talked to him it was when she was revealed to everyone. He sprinted toward the bridge and found his teacher still standing on it by himself.

Naruto was really beginning to wonder how long he was standing on it; he looked like he was there for a couple of hours due to the collecting leaves that were falling around his feet. What really threw him off was the lack of the familiar orange book in his hand, the only other time he didn't have it out was when he was at the memorial.

Naruto walked to the edge of the bridge and looked at the older man in front of him. He knew that he was there but he didn't make his presence known by turning his head.

"Hello, sensei" he said walking onto the bridge so he could stand next to him. He looked over at him; he was still staring down into the water. He sighed, he was normally known for not being patient but he found out in the last couple days or month that his tolerance for patience was slowly waning.

They stood in silence for a good ten minutes till Naruto snapped.

"Okay that's it!" he said turning on the Copy Nin. "I don't care about you feeling all guilty about what happened to Sakura but you need to get over it and go talk to her!"

He said this and pointed a very shaky accusing finger at him. The Copy Nin turned his head in his direction due to the tone of voice.

"She doesn't hate you, Sensei!" he yelled at the older man. "What she needs right now is someone else's companionship! Mine can only last so long. And Granny Tsunade can only do so much!"

He stood on the bridge puffing a little from the steam he just let off. He realized how quiet the surrounding trees became and took in a steady breath now feeling a lot better. The birds slowly came out of their fright and began chirping.

He tapped his foot waiting for a response but he just turned around fed up with his ranting, he wasn't getting anywhere.

"Naruto—"  
"I'm said my share" he cutted in. He didn't turn back around to answer him. "Go talk to her"

He walked off the bridge but stopped at the edge of it.

"She's wanted to talk to you for some time now. Go. It would make her day a lot better"

With that he stormed off the bridge and continued on his way to meet up with his pink haired friend and hoped that their ramen lunch would get him back in a pleasant mood.

* * *

Kakashi looked off the roof he was crouching on. The moon was high above his head telling him that all of Konoha would be asleep, with the exception of the guards keeping watch at the gates. No one would bother him or even question his appearance on the roof that he was on. His visible eye lingered on a window, the only window with light pouring out of it showing a person's dedication to their work. He jumped off the roof and landed in an alley and walked toward the building.

Since the 'accident', he hadn't had the heart or ability to go talk to Sakura. He was in Konoha most of the time but he was occasionally called off on assignment for the oh so helpful Hokage.

He sighed thinking of the woman, some times she could be very wise but most of the time she could be unpredictable.

"Not to mention dangerous" he thought to himself. His light footsteps stopped in front of his destination, the Konoha Hospital. He had to make an appearance here sooner or later, or Naruto or Lady Tsunade would be on him asking him to talk to a certain someone.

In truth he didn't know what to say to her, their conversation on the night she was revealed to everyone still lingered in his mind as awkward and very out of character for the both of them. But he could understand her actions, she didn't want him to feel like it was his fault for causing this incident to happen and he being Hatake Kakashi just stood silently and took it all. But he still couldn't understand his actions or behavior was he acting more along the lines of teacher or friend?

He sighed again as his gaze went up to the lit window. But most of all he didn't know how to treat her, either the 15 year old he saw not just a few months ago or the 28 year old that she was forced to be. He didn't know, but he had to guess that she would want to be treated as an adult now that she was one. It would be unfair to her if he did treat her as a child.

He walked into the hospital doors and silently walked past the sleeping receptionist.

His gaze was constantly moving, it never really stopped on one spot if it did he would happen to have Icha Icha in his hands. His gaze halted on a board that was posted on the wall near the stairs and elevator, it was a bulletin showing what floor and rooms certain doctors resided in. His eye widened slightly seeing the name on the board.

Sakura Haruno

Head Nurse on 7th Floor

Assistant and Nurse to Dr. Suzuki

Counselor

Kakashi stood staring at the name on the board. To think that she could accomplish so much in the little time she was given as an adult. He continued on his walk to the 7th floor, he was due for a visit but not an actual one on one engagement. He climbed the stairs silently, barely hearing his sandaled feet on the stone steps.

The 7th took some time, he was in no rush to go see her, but he wanted to be as silent as possible. He was in a hospital and some people needed their rest. Near the end of the long hallway he saw a small beam of light cut across the floor, showing that a late worker had their door slightly ajar. He walked down the hallway looking at the nameplates to figure out what room his pupil inhabited. His steps halted when he came to the door that had the light coming out of it. From what he saw and read on the door, it was Sakura's room. He slowly eased the door open to take a look inside.

She had a fairly large room for her being Head Nurse. It wasn't exactly the same size of the Hokage's office but it was close. Her desk was directly in front of the door but was shoved into the corner to face the wall, so Sakura only had to lift her head up to see who went in or out of her room. The desk looked sturdy and durable; it was a bit high tech for him and even the Hokage. It had standing shelves to store files, paperwork, or other miscellaneous items, the desk of a becoming doctor. A single chair was placed near the desk so the visitor could talk to Sakura while she continued working at her desk.

The other furnishings in the room were of good taste and of good quality. In the opposite corner was a comfy looking sofa that had a two book cases next to it filled with books, medical he could only assume and a low coffee table placed in front of the sofa. Under the window, which opened to the front of the hospital, was a low bookshelf that had a nice sound system placed on it to play music to sooth any worker or patient. Kakashi could already see a collection of CD's already near the device. The final wall was an entire counter that had cabinets above them. He could hear a frig somewhere; he could guess that it was under the counter. From where he stood he could see a sink, coffee maker, and microwave. For being an Assistant to a Doctor and being a Head Nurse, Sakura had a nice office to accompany her position.

Speaking of Sakura, Kakashi scanned the room to look for her. He heard a shift of movement and his attention returned to the desk. He was so engrossed with looking around her room he didn't even notice her sleeping at her desk.

He silently entered the office and approached the woman. She had her arm under her head which was up on the desk; she must have fallen asleep while doing paperwork. He stood there with his hands in his pockets just watching her.

"Where's the girl that I trained not that long ago?" he said softly. His gaze went down her sleeping form. Her hair was still the bubblegum pink that she was well known for, but it now was past her shoulder blades but he couldn't tell due to the pen she had in her hair to keep it up in a messy bun. Her face was slimmer and more defined with her quick coming of age. Somehow he knew that her eyes would remain the same but they looked a lot deeper and greener when he saw her that night. Her eyelashes lengthened and thickened to mask those green eyes of hers. Her lips still remained the same perfect shape but they turned a slightly deeper pink.

Kakashi's eye scanned over the contents on her desk. It mostly was covered with papers, pens, pencils, coffee mugs, folders, and open medical textbooks. In one corner she had a small desk lamp that would be turned on, like now, to aid her late night stays. The light gave a soft yellow glow over its owner, illuminating her face with lamplight.

Something caught his eye, as he turned his head, a flash of light. He looked over in the opposite corner of her desk and found two framed pictures sitting there looking at him. One was of her parents; he remembered when he heard about the Haruno's deaths. He was returning from an escort mission when he heard the news and was downhearted to hear that Sakura couldn't even make the funeral due to her being in a different Country. The other photograph was of Old Team 7; he carefully reached forward and took the picture into his gloved hand. His eye fell on his former pupils. The first was Sasuke and Naruto; both had grown and moved on from his teachings. Some would likely never return to the gates of Konoha. His gaze lingered on Sakura, how small and innocent she was back then. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, how he remembered how much she tried to act like an adult ninja. His attention went to back to the sleeping Sakura next to him.

"Looks like you got your wish" he said putting the picture back in its place. He looked over to the sleeping woman; it must have been a little past midnight. How long was she making herself stay up?

Tsunade wasn't only teaching her medical ninjutsu, but also of her habits. He sighed and turned his gaze to look outside her open window. The white curtains fluttered slightly from the breeze the Fire Country gave its people. He sighed deciding what to do next.

He heard movement, he turned back to Sakura. She shifted in her sleep and reached up with her other hand and scratched her head causing the pen that held back her long hair to fall out. Her hair tumbled down her back and shielded part of her face from him.

"What am I going to do with you?" he thought. He looked over at her couch and thought it would be better for her to sleep on her couch than on her desk. He pulled her chair out a little more so he could get to her easier and not disturb her sleep. He leaned her back in her chair and slid an arm under her knees and the other went to her free arm so he could have it around his shoulders to help steady her. He crouched and stood back up with the medical-nin in his arms, he was surprised to how much she weighed before she was so light now he actually had to use some muscle to carry the woman.

He stood and shifted her weight slightly so he could get a better grip. The movement stirred her and caused her to shift in his hands. He froze, praying to the gods that she would not wake up. She stopped moving but shifted her head so that it rested into his neck; he looked down at the pink head that was clearly invading his personal space.

His eye softened slightly as he made his way over to her couch. He stood in front of it for a little to just stare at it deciding what to do. He bent down on one knee and gently placed her onto the couch. Withdrawing his hand from under her head slowly caused the Kunoichi to shift again, he froze, and she stopped moving. He pulled his hand away from her, and that's when she nuzzled his hand when it went past her head. He froze and watched her.

Sakura only sighed in her sleep and shifted to make her more comfortable. He moved the caressed hand and continued to watch her. She slept soundly on her side with still one arm under her head while the other was draped over her stomach. Some of her pink hair was falling over her face creating a rose colored curtain over her face.

He remained in the crouched position for a bit watching her, her aura kept giving off a pent up feeling, even in her sleep he could tell. He sighed; he could be partially to blame for that feeling but also her friends. He reached out with a hand toward her face; he stopped, questioning his actions. The night when he came to her hospital room came to mind.

Then slowly, ever so slowly he reached out and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. He was amazed with how soft and silky her hair felt under his callused fingertips. He gently ran a knuckle down alongside her face, remembering that day when she took that hit. He blinked catching his thoughts and withdrew his hand.

He stood up, completing his visit, and turned and walked toward the door.

"Kakashi-sensei"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder at the voice. His eye fell on green, he froze, Sakura was up. He turned his head back toward the door, wanting to leave before she became fully awake.

"Wait, don't go"

He stopped again and turned back to the woman. He didn't like the need in that sentence, it made him uncomfortable. In her state of grogginess, she sat up from her laying position and had her legs under her as she sat sideways on the couch.

"What are you doing here?" she asked softly. Kakashi raised one shoulder, in response.

"I'm asking that myself" he thought.

"Just came here to check up on you" he replied.

He looked at her, from the expression she gave, she was thinking about how to respond to that. Her mouthed opened into an "o" but it then closed and she averted her gaze to the floor.

"Thanks…. and…. thanks for moving me"

Kakashi nodded his head slightly and turned to leave.

"Why now?" she said. He stopped and turned back around to face her. He looked at her expression; it read question and also urgency. "Why come now, when you knew that I wanted to talk to you?"

He remained where he stood and took in the question. He was about to reply when she butted in.

"And don't tell me that Naruto told you to come, I want to hear it from you"

He sighed as he looked at her.

"I didn't know what to say to you" he said looking into her jade eyes. "I wasn't sure if you would hate me"

Sakura looked at him with a slightly angered face but the look only lasted a second.

"Why would you think that? You and Naruto are the only ones that I have left now. Did you feel that you were partially to blame for what happened to me?"

He remained silent. He saw her get up from her spot but she didn't approach him.

"Did you think that I would break our friendship just because of what happened?"

He looked down at the floor, he head footsteps and heard her move over to her desk. He watched her pick up folders and documents and began stacking them in neat piles.

"Or do you really resent what I did for you?" she said in a near whisper, but he heard it with his sensitive hearing.

He looked up at her and saw that she was less than 7 feet away with her hands wrapped around her middle. Her back was to her desk but the light was off and the moonlight shown through the office illuminating the two people in it.

"Do you feel like you failed in protecting me?" she continued with that soft voice; it was making him squirm in the inside. He didn't know what to think to the questions she threw at him.

"No" he said calmly. He heard her take a few steps toward him, he lifted his head up. Her eyes read want and need of understanding.

"I don't you to keep avoiding me just because you thought you failed me" she said delicately. Kakashi felt something in him stir. "You made me who I am today because of what you did for me when I was a Gennin"

"But you—"  
"What's done is done" she said with finality, he saw her smile slightly. His memory went back to the day before they left on that mission where he said those exact words. "You can't undo it and… neither can this"

She reached up with her right hand and gently laid her hand on his cheek that was covered with his head plate and mask. Her touch was soft, warm, and gentle to the skin on his face. He looked at her; her attention was drawn to his covered Shangarin eye. He wanted to close his eye but he didn't, when was the last time did a woman touch him? Her gaze flicked back to his visible eye.

"I don't want our friendship to end just because of what happened" she lowered her hand from his face. "I'm an adult now and I can take care of myself"

Kakashi's jaw tightened slightly from that statement. Sakura's facial expression changed from the movement he made.

"Hey, it's getting late and I know that both of us should be getting home" she said walking back to her desk. She bent and picked up a pair of high heeled sandals that were similar to those Tsunade wore.

He nodded and walked toward the door.

"Sensei"

He looked over his shoulder at her.

"Thank for seeing me" she said looking down at her desk.

"Kakashi" he said. She looked up and at him from his statement.

"What?"

"Call me Kakashi. After all we're both adults now we don't need titles"

He saw her smile and nod.

"You're right, we are. Good night…"

He nodded his head and left her room.

"….Kakashi" came her soft voice from the office, he was meant not to catch that last part. He walked down the hallway with his hands in his pockets and a grin went unseen under his masked face.


	5. Unexpected Visits Part 1

Chapter 5: Unexpected Visits

Sakura looked up from her work to look out the window. Her thoughts were on the exchange last night with her and Kakashi. For the first time in months they spoke to each other since that night at the hospital. It was now turning to the early fall and they haven't spoken or seen each other since the beginning of summer. Odd that both of there interactions were at night and in the hospital.

_Seems to me that he's been coming to hospitals lately, even if he says that he despises them_ Inner Sakura said.

Sakura only grinned at that comment and the fact that they got over their differences. She sat up a little from her desk and stretched; she went home last night around 1:30 and came back at 6:00 this morning. Dr. Suzuki needed help with some of his appointments scheduling, a consultation for a doctor's meeting that would be happening in Water Country a few months from now, and also she had to talk to all the nurses on her floor. Dr. Suzuki was soon leaving for a scheduled mission in Lighting Country and needed to have his schedule totally rearranged due to his absence. Talk about a full schedule.

She resettled herself in her chair and reached forward for her cup of coffee.

"Knock, Knock"

She looked up and saw Dr. Suzuki leaning his arm against her doorframe.

"Oh, Dr. Suzuki" she said getting up with the paperwork that he wanted. "Here is the consultation date for the mission in Lightening Country, your escort will meet you next week on Wednesday at 6:00 in front of your house—don't be late—then you will be escorted to Lightening Country and will arrive by Saturday around noon. Your scheduled return date is on a Tuesday a month from now"

She heard her boss sigh from the long explanation.

"Why does it take that long?" he asked looking up from his reading. She only shook her head as she walked over to her coffee maker. The doctor followed her and took a seat on her sofa.

"You apparently don't travel much" she said pouring him a cup of coffee. "Traveling to Lightening Country takes time if you are a civilian but as a ninja it takes less time"

"Define your definition of 'less'"

Sakura grinned as she settled the pot back in its home and turned to give the doctor the mug.

"Well, it took about a four to five hour journey if we are in a hurry"

She heard a gurgle and looked up to see her superior gag on his coffee. She silently chuckled at him.

"Anyway, your appointments are set on hold till you come back"

She heard him groan from the statement.

"You must really not like traveling?" she said raising an eyebrow. He nodded his head.

"I had a bad….experience the last time I traveled cross Country"

"Do tell" Sakura asked crossing over to her desk to pick up another manila folder. She heard him huff slightly.

"I got sick the last time I traveled and I was traveling to Water Country at the time"

Sakura nodded her head in understanding; she didn't like traveling when she was sick. She was a medical nin so she had the luxury of not being sick that much. She walked back over to her couch to regard the man in front of her.

"Well, I just hope that this trip will be less painful" she said handing him the folder. "You have two appointments scheduled for today, one with a Mrs. Umeda in about twenty-five minutes about her sprained ankle she had two weeks ago, then you are scheduled for a five o'clock with a little girl named Chiro about a cough her mother noticed yesterday"

"How old is the little girl?" he asked getting up as he walked toward her door as he flipped through the patients medical records. He stopped near her door. She got up to follow him, but stopped a few feet away from the door.

"She is going on six years by next week on Tuesday"

Sakura watched him read over the two folders, she always noticed that his eyebrows creased together whenever he was annoyed with something.

"You need anything?" she asked, trying to get what was bothering him. He looked up at her with question. "You look annoyed with something"

She noticed the lack of response as she looked at him.

"When was the last time that you went home and actually talked to your wife?" she innocently asked.

The doctor only sighed and let the folders rest on his hip as he scratched his head with his other hand. He drew in a breath.

"I don't know, last week maybe? I've been sleeping here at the hospital to catch up on some work… she really has been worried though"

Sakura nodded her head as she crossed her arms over her chest; she was getting a hang of reading people. Ever since she became a medical Nin, she was taught to always watch her patient's movements and their body language. One could pick up on something by just the slightest movement when it involved discomfort. She leaned forward and slipped the two folders out of Dr. Suzuki's grasp.

"Why don't I take care of these for you and why don't you go to your wife?"

The older man looked at her, baiting either or not to listen to the comment.

"I don't know…"  
"Look, Dr. Suzuki, you haven't been home in little over a week and don't you think that you kind of deserve to go home and see you wife?"

He looked down at the ground.

"Also you're going to be gone for about a month, why don't you take her with you? She would enjoy it and also it would make your trip less painful"

Dr. Suzuki looked back up at his assistant, with a look of forfeit.

"What would I do without you Sakura?"

She only smiled.

"Go, take your wife and get out of Konoha"

He gently shook her shoulder in thanks as he retreated down the hallway. Sakura only watched him a bit till her sudden appointment scheduling came to her mind.

Later on that day when both of her patients were taken care of Sakura sat back in her office chair slightly exhausted from her days work. Early that morning she had to finish Dr. Suzuki's arrangement papers then she had to deal with all the nurses on her floor, schedule a shipment of medical supplies to restock the supply station, and also take care of Dr. Suzuki's patients. She sat back in her chair and stared at her paper covered desk. It was not as nearly as chaotic as Tsunade's but it was close. On one side of her desk were the folders of patients that were put on hold till Dr. Suzuki's return and the other side consisted of papers and more medical documents that had yet to be done for the rest of the month. It was only a Friday night and pandemonium was planned 5 days before Dr. Suzuki's departure.

She drew in a sigh as she looked down at her desktop calendar. In various spots, notes were written down of appointments, meetings, and also counseling appointments. She leaned forward and took up a pencil; she only then settled it back down on top of her desk to contemplate going home. But since her superior was gone, she had a very lax schedule.

"Don't you look like a hard worker"

She turned her head at the voice and found Genma. He only grinned at her from his leaning position at her office door. He stood leaning his back against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest with his orally fixated toothpick in his mouth.

"What are you doing here Genma?" she asked with slight surprise. She hadn't seen the Jounin in a while, not since about a month ago when he came in for treatment from his previous mission.

"Nothing, just checking up on you" he said.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him as she got up from her chair to take up the group of medical textbooks that were collecting on her desk.

"I hope your not asking me to tend to you again?" she asked while she walked over to her bookshelf. She remembered when he came in from that mission he nearly groped her when she turned around. Luckily Dr. Suzuki came in the room to ask her something.

"No, but what if I said yes would you tend to me anyway?" he asked with a smile.

Sakura only chuckled slightly as she reached up to slip a book on its shelf.

"But there has to be a reason why you are here. You normally don't enter hospitals without having one" she said. "You are nearly as bad as Kakashi"

She slipped another book onto the shelf. There was a slight pause from the ninja; he probably noticed the mention of the silver haired man.

"I was going to ask you…." He started. Sakura looked at the binding of the book she had to check the volume number before she shelved it. "…what were you're plans tonight?"

Sakura halted her reach with her nearly complete book shelving. She turned around to find the man in her office and sitting in her desk chair.

"Are you asking me on a date Genma?"

He only smiled as twirled the small piece of wood between his lips.

"As a matter of fact yes"

Sakura shifted her awaiting books to her other hand as she looked at the ninja. She then turned back around to her bookshelf.

"What do you say?" he asked from her desk.

Sakura halted again and lowered her book filled hand. She stood there a minute thinking about it.

"No"

She placed the book back on the shelf.

"Why not?"

Sakura whirled around; he breathed that right into her ear. She didn't even hear him approach her, damn he was good. Sakura backed into her bookshelf due to close proximity; she was corned by Genma's large body.

"Because"

"Because why?" he repeated.

Sakura couldn't even hear herself; he was so close to her. When was the last time did a man ever come that close to her? Sakura could almost smell him, but she could feel his body heat coming off him. Sakura calmed her heart beat as she collected herself. She looked straight in his eyes with firm expression. Sakura brought the remaining books she had in her hands in front of her chest.

"Because…..?" she said softly while looking at him, he leaned a little closure as he brought an arm up to lean it against the bookshelf giving him an excuse to get into her bubble. "….I said so"

She pressed the books into his chest as she ducked under his arm and walked past him. She smirked slightly at her actions. Inner Sakura threw a punch in the air.

_Way to go!_

She bent over her desk to look at tomorrow's schedule; she really didn't have anything planned. Everything that was needed was already done or could be done on Monday. So she really had a free weekend. Hopefully Genma did just happen to look onto her desk when he sat down into her chair.

"So…?"

Sakura looked back over at him, he shelved the books she gave him and right now was slouching against her bookshelf.

"So what?" she asked wondering why he was still here.

"So when do I pick you up?"

Sakura looked at him like _What the hell are you talking about._

"Does he not get it?" she thought.

"Genma what are you going at?" she asked slightly aggravated.

"Nothing, just taking a fellow Shinobi out"

"No, didn't you hear me, I told you no"  
"Yah I heard you"

"So—"

Genma butted in.  
"Sakura when was the last time did you have any fun let alone get out of this hospital?"

Sakura stopped talking to think of the question. When was the last time did she go out? She spent most of her time at the hospital and other than that, she really had no time to do anything.

* * *

Genma looked at the Kunoichi and smiled due to her lack of response. He just happened to glance down at her desk calendar, when he sat down in her chair, and noticed that she pretty much had a lax schedule due to her Dr. Suzuki being out of town. He walked past her toward her door.

"I'll be at your house by 9 o'clock" he said, he turned in her doorway. "Dress in something nice, but nothing formal"

Genma watched her profile stand in its reminiscing stance. He watched her till she slowly nodded her head accepting the offer.

"Remember 9 o'clock" he said turning from the room. He walked down the hallway with a grin on his face.

"About time she came out of her bubble" he thought to himself. "She could really use it and also I think a certain Shangarin user would too"

* * *

Sakura looked up at her clock as she entered into her house, the face read a little after 7 o'clock. So she had about two hours till Genma came over to pick her up.

"Great" she muttered. "Other than that, I don't have anything 'nice' to wear"

She dropped her bag near her door as she walked up her stairs towards her bedroom.

_That will fit that is_ Inner Sakura reminded her.

"Thanks for the input" she replied as she opened her bedroom door. She looked at the dressers that held her clothes, all her old non fitting clothes.

She glanced over at her clock, 7:05.

"I'll give myself about 20 minutes to clear my drawers out to see if anything…to the gods I pray….if anything will fit me"

_You better pray that something fits because we have no idea what Genma has in mind for us_

Sakura reminded silent. Inner Sakura was right, Genma just happened to not fill her in on where they were going to be going.

"Well, let's do this" she said crossing over to a dresser.

20 minutes later

_Well so much for that_ Inner Sakura said leaning back and examining their problem.

Sakura slumped from her sitting position. Not one article of clothing was large enough for her to wear not to mention all her bras or underwear. She had absolutely no clothes to wear.

The clothes that she was wearing for the past few months were a combination of Tsunade's and Shizune's. They were fine with her borrowing their clothing, well really their old stuff due to it not fitting them.

Sakura still didn't have the heart to go shopping and get new clothes; she kept giving herself excuses that she didn't have the time.

"I should have gone shopping when I had the chance" she muttered going down the stairs to find some boxes to put the clothes in. "It would have saved me the trouble"

_Your fault_ Inner Sakura said. _Also that dress that you bought you can no longer wear it_

"Well that will make Ino really happy"

She halted her search regarding the blonde; she really hadn't seen any of her friends since then. She did see them in the hospital when they came in from missions but they really didn't stop to say hi or even give her a call. They would only talk to her when she was doing them a service. But they still kept their distance. They acted like they weren't sure if it was the same Sakura in front of them. They didn't say anything but she could see it in their eyes. Is it really her? Is this the girl that I grew up with? Tsunade said to give them time to open back up to her.

"Yeah and it's been a little over a few months" she thought closing a closet door.

The only people that she really considered friends were….Naruto. But what about the other Jounin's? Well Genma was pretty easy to talk to if he wasn't in the mood for flattery. But then there was Kakashi. But he was still having his regrets for what she did for him, even though their conversation last night seemed to patch things up between them.

She really didn't have a chance to talk to Kurenia or Anko, she treated Kurenia a couple of times and she seemed like nice company. She better talk to her more often. But Anko was just loud and also she kind scared Sakura a little with her I'm-Going-To-Get-Orochimaru Attitude. Shizune and Tsunade were alright but she considered them as adopted mom's more than friends. Gai was just plain creepy and Asuma well he was normally around Kurenia for that matter.

She sighed as she searched her house for a box; no one except Naruto came to her mind.

"Speaking of which I haven't seen much of him lately" she said looking around.

Noticing a box in the corner of her kitchen she grabbed it and returned back upstairs.

_I wonder where he ran off to_

"I just hope that numbskull realizes that him ever going out with me is now shot out the door"

She chuckled slightly as she stuffed all the clothing into the box. All the clothes barely fit in the box but due to her packing skills she managed to cram them all in. She lifted the box up and shifted it to get a better grip on it.

"Now what to do with it?" she said as she left her bedroom. "I don't know if anyone would want these? I wonder if—"

A knock sounded at her door. She halted her steps toward the kitchen to stare at her door. The knock sounded again, so she wasn't imaging it.

She settled the box down and went to answer it. She opened it to reveal Genma.

* * *

Genma thought it would be best on his part that he arrived early at Sakura's house. But he also wanted to give her something. He glanced down at the white box he carried under his arm; the box was fairly large it had to be in order to carry the item that it stored.

A smirk rose on his lips remembering the looks he received when he purposed the item back at the store. Thought it odd that a gentleman (him a gentleman? Ha!) like him would buy an item like that.

He arrived in front of Sakura's door in less time then he expected, he thought her heard footsteps inside telling him that she was in fact home. He swirled the toothpick that he had in his mouth as he reached out to knock on the door.

He waited a while before he knocked again; he heard the footsteps come toward the door.

He gave her a grin as she opened the door.

"Hey cherry blossom, thought I would stop by" he said with a smile. He looked at Sakura and watched her narrow her eyes and look back in the house at something, he presumed a clock.

"Genma what are you doing here?" she asked with question after returning her gaze on him, "You are not supposed to be here for another hour and a half"

"I know" he said walking towards her and pushing his way inside. "Thought I would stop by anyway"

"What are you doing?" she said allowing his bulk of a body to enter into her home. "Who said you could--"

"Here" he said handing her the large white box. "It's for you"

He didn't see her expression but he could have guessed that it was a mean one, he only continued his way toward the living room and plopped himself nonchalantly on her sofa.

His gaze wandered around the place noticing her nice taste in furniture, surprisingly everything wasn't all pink but in friendly shades of blues, greens, browns, and reds.

"Genma"

His gaze returned to the pink haired kunoichi. He could only smirk at her position. She had the box on her hip with her other hand on her lower back; her expression was that full of anger and also a bit of confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a tone of voice that reminded him a lot of his mother.

"Waiting for you to get ready" he replied swirling the toothpick in his mouth. He propped his feet up on the low coffee table that sat in front of the sofa. She eyed them but then returned her attention back to the box that she had on her hip then back to the toothpick wielding man in her living room.

"Fine" she said turning to go back upstairs. "I hope you have patience"

He heard her climb the stairs and the familiar snapping of a bedroom door.

"You can count on it" he muttered. "Because you're going to be the one in need of it"


	6. Unexpected Visits Part 2

Hehe sorry for not updating in a long time, it's not like I forgot or anything it's just a very large beast of Writers Block. But I defeated the beast and reigned supreme. Anyway here's a very long update to satisfy you all. Hope you like it. And also if you all haven't noticed but I also posted a new fic which is called Ripples and its a Kisame/Sakura pairing but if you don't like the pairing then don't read it it's your call. I've another idea too and it's going to be a Itachi/Sakura pairing and that one is called In Between the Lines but don't get too excited I'm still writing the detailed outline out on it. So just be patient I'm still writing but it's going to be slow due to school being a pain and also college stuff getting in the way. But thanks for the reveiws!

I want to thank everyone for reviewing and adding Metamorphosis to your guys favorite list. A special thanks to Goatis! Thanks for the review! Hopefully some of your guys questions are going to be answered in this chapter, it not just wait I'm going to add them in later chapters. I didn't forget them so be patient! Thanks again! -Mokana-chan

* * *

Kakashi continued to stare at the half empty sake cup in front of him. He had no reason to drink; he didn't even know if he wanted to continue drinking in the first place. It was his job to stay somewhat sober in case the famous Green Beast decided to have one to many sake bottles. After all he was the only one that could control Maito Gai if he did get a bit plastered. 

He was debating whether or not to pull out his beloved Icha Icha and start reading but his decision was short lived due to Asuma sliding in next to him.

"Hatake, how you holding up?"

Kakashi could only shrug a shoulder as a reply; he was still going over his conversation with Sakura last night and was wondering if their 'problem' was patched up or not.

"You know you should give it a chance"

The Copy Nin turned a dark eye on his friend; he only received a grin before he took a drink from his glass. Kakashi returned to stare at the glass in front of him. He knew what the Sarutobi meant, but he didn't know how to form his answer. Yes, he should give Sakura and him a chance to patch up their broken relationship. But there was still the Your-Talking-To-A-15-Year-Old in his mind and it was a hard trying to shake that feeling.

Kakashi returned his gaze on the shot glass in front of him. Asuma only looked at his direction for a minute till he got up.

"She's tougher than you think" he said softly to the Copy Nin. Kakashi only lifted a cool gaze in his departing direction. A sigh escaped him.

"Yes, everyone seems to be telling me that" he muttered to himself. He heard the door jingle and the cold breeze of the evening came in and softly whipped the silver hairs on his head. Voices were soon heard behind him telling him the entrance of another couple coming in from the cool evening to just kick back and relax.

"My Eternal Rival!"

Kakashi only cringed from the voice; he was in no mood to be talking to the infamous Green Beast of Konoha even if he was the one doing the babysitting. Gai's overly confident attitude was already starting to irritate him, even with it being so early in the evening.

"Gai" he said not taking his gaze from the shot glass. The Mighty Gai slipped onto the bar stool next to him with slight trouble.

"My aren't we touchy this beautiful evening" he happily said leaning closure to him. Kakashi only leaned away from him slightly noticing the strong smell of sake radiating off him.

"Just slightly"

Gai only raised a fuzzy eyebrow at him and turned back to face the bar. Kakashi returned his gaze back down at the glass cylinder in front of him, out of his peripheral vision he could see Gai swiveling back and forth on the bar stool.

"You haven't been talking to my Lee-chan's Youthful Sakura Haruno by chance?" he asked while looking over his shoulder at him. Kakashi only raised an eyebrow from the statement. If his memory served him correct his rival's current pupil had a never ending crush on the cherry blossom. He only wondered how long that would last since the accident.

Kakashi only shook his head in response.

"No, not since a yesterday"

The Green Beast only nodded his head in response. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, Gai was trying to suppress a smile but from what? Him?

"Have you and the Blossom made up since the…."

Kakashi was only beginning to understand where this conversation was heading.

"If you're saying that I should give her a chance—"  
"No, No, No" Gai butted in. He slapped him on the shoulder to emphasize his point. "I'm just saying have you seen her? You know, like out walking around and talking with friends?"

The Copy Nin regarded the question, from his knowledge and also from what Naruto told him. None of Sakura's old friends were talking to her; the only sort of conversation that she got out of them was when they happened to be in the hospital getting treated from a recent mission. But with the spanning of months, they should have made up by now and take Sakura back as one of their own. He guessed it was due to Sakura's inability to get out of the hospital with her position and all, but also Sakura not having the courage to go and talk to her childhood friends like she used to.

Kakashi only shook his head at the statement when he heard the door open again. He picked up the half empty shot glass and downed the bitter contents. He flicked a look over at Gai but found him turned around in his bar stool with his elbows resting on the bar counter with a smug expression on his lips.

Kakashi couldn't tell if it was actually Gai behind the smirk or if it was the alcohol, but he shrugged off the idea by standing up and slapping his due amount on the bar counter.

"Leaving quiet early aren't we?" the green clad man asked.

Kakashi only raised and lowered one shoulder.  
"Depends on what you define as early" the Copy Nin replied. His comment only was greeted with a laugh from the man next to him. Kakashi only looked at him with a hallow expression.

"I think you should stay a while, things could get interesting"

Gai affirmed his comment by slinging his ankle on top of his knee and further leaned back on the counter.

"I have better things to do" Kakashi said smoothly about to turn and leave the bar.

"You did say that you haven't seen Sakura in a while right?"

Kakashi only frowned slightly; he was getting a little tired of all the repeative-ness coming from him.

"Yes, I told you I haven't seen her" he replied curtly turning toward the door once again. Gai butted in again causing him to halt his turn.

"Then if you claim that you haven't seen her, then who is that?" he asked flicking a finger pointing behind him.

He turned as his lone eye fell on Genma. The brunette was talking to a hooded woman, he could tell due to the long legs and pair of heels that the person sported. Said brunette saw the stare and winked at him before returning to his partner. The woman nodded and began to unbutton her jacket and lower her hood.

Kakashi's lone eye fell on pink hair, but not only pink hair. But pink hair in a red dress.

* * *

Sakura was not exactly pleased as to what Genma had in mind for 'going on a date'. Not only that but he took her to a bar, bought her a red spaghetti strapped dress, and also matching black panties and a strapless bra to go with the get up. 

_You got to hand it to him though, he has good taste _Inner Sakura said nodding her head.

"Good taste my ass" she muttered. Not only was this her first 'going out' experience in a long while but also this was considered her 'coming out of society'. She really hadn't been able to walk around Konoha in a while due to the 'accident' and also her working so dang long at the hospital. Sakura wasn't even sure to what the villagers and fellow Shinobi would think of her for going out with the local town flirt.

_You are now considered an adult now you know_ Inner Sakura reminded. _So I guess it would be considered alright, right?_

"You are a lot of help tonight" she snapped.

_Just trying to help_

"Well, do me a favor and be quiet for the rest of the night kay?"

"Was that pointed at me?"

Sakura blinked her green eyes at him as she took a sip out of her water glass. Genma could only stare at her with confusion.

"No" she said firmly. "No, just thinking of something"

He leaned back in the booth to regard the statement but he didn't question it further.

"I take it that you're not happy about…."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the question, and then her mouth opened in a small 'o' then closed it in understanding.

"Oh, I'm not offended of…" She waved a hand at the bar before her. "--it at all"

Genma only looked at her as he leaned his elbows on the table.

_Liar…_

"If this is really making you uncomfortable we can just call it a night" he said gently.

Sakura felt something jab in her chest. She didn't want Genma to think that she thought of him as a leech, even though he was some of the time, but he did go through the effort of buying her a dress for the occasion.

"No, it's just that…."

Genma twirled the toothpick in his mouth. Sakura shifted in her seat a little and looked at her water glass for a bit before answering.

"This is technically my first date…"

She looked up at the Shinobi and saw him smirk at her before he broke out in laughter. Sakura suddenly felt some heat creep onto her cheeks.

"What's so funny" she demanded. Genma only laughed at her more as he leaned more on the table.

"It's just you, you need to loosen up"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him.

"And what do you mean by that?"

Genma leaned in a little more which caused Sakura to lean back for her own personal space.

"You keep kicking yourself for what happened. Let it go, you both lived. You…… just got a little older"

Sakura opened her mouth but Genma beat her to it.

"Let it go" he said. "Why do you think I asked you out on a date anyway?"

Sakura gripped her glass slightly.

"Didn't you want to flirt with me? And maybe get some—"  
"Well, no" he said butting in again. He then paused to think about what he said by looking her up and down "Well, no actually I lied but I do want to flirt with you but sleeping with you no….well not yet that is"

Sakura narrowed her eyebrows at him, which he only replied with a wink of his own. How could he think that? She barely knew him to begin with and from what she gathered even before the accident was that Shiranui Genma was a ladies man and big-time playboy, well that was going a little far on her behalf but it was a little true.

"You. Are. Sick" she said looking him dead in the eye.

He only smiled at her. Sakura couldn't help but smile back; he was only trying to get her to have a good time. He leaned back in his seat and looked around him.

"Now that we have that out of the way, how about something to eat?"

* * *

Kakashi's reason on going home early now went out the door once he saw Sakura. 

"What is she doing out so late? And why is she in a bar in all places" he thought. For some odd reason, he was completely annoyed and irritated that she was in fact out and about town. And especially with his so called 'friend'. Out of all the people she had to choose she had to choose Genma.

"Well the question was was it her doing the asking or Genma?" a little voice asked in his head. His superior half told him the later.

Luckily for him, Gai already stood up and went to join Asuma in a drinking game, which left Kakashi alone in the farthest and darkest corner of the bar. With the help of his trusty handy-dandy orange backed novel he was able to disguise his snooping for reading.

He flipped a page in his book and glanced back up at the two naïve couple sitting across the room. Every now and then he would catch Genma looking in his general direction and smirk at him, as if he knew that this irritated him. In all actuality it did really tick him off. Why didn't Sakura just stay home and be a good girl and not get into trouble, especially with older men that had the reputation of getting laid about 6 times a month by a different girl or a group of girls.

He let an agitated sigh escape his masked lips.

"'Treat me like an adult…I can take care of myself'?" he voiced soundly slightly similar to a certain pink haired Kunoichi. "Taking care of yourself didn't mean for you to go out to a bar and drink like an adult"

He flipped another page due to his annoyance. He really needed to keep a careful eye on her, his gaze lifted to take a look at her. He blinked at her.

For what he saw was somewhat refreshing and a big relief to him, for the first time in months he saw Sakura smile and laugh. But it wasn't any kind of laugh either; it was a laugh that involved her tipping back her head and opening her mouth to let out a heart filled laugh.

His gaze went back to the book in hand; he turned back a page due to him not reading it. But he found his gaze lifting upwards to look at the medic again.

If he wasn't keeping an eye on her, he would have to say that Sakura did clean up quiet nicely. The dress that she wore fit her womanly curves very nicely and allowed a person like her to move around in it without having the constricted feeling that most dresses gave off. The dress itself was a beautiful blood red that had black trim on the bottom and on her straps that went over slender shoulders, and crossed over each other in the back.

When she went to go sit down the dress hung just below her knees and moved each time she took a step in the Shinobi high heels that some women preferred, the dress also assented her nicely toned calves and slim ankles.

The vibrantly pink hair that she was well known for no longer hung loose around her face but was held partially back with a nice set of ivory combs which allowed the sides of her hair to be out of her face but made the rest of her hair to trail down her back.

Kakashi glanced back down at his reading material before him; he would have to say that she did really look nice. But this was not the type of place to come out of society with a new adult female body. And also not the type of dress to be wearing at a place like this, she was just asking for trouble especially with Genma.

His gaze went back to the kunoichi. He watched her tilt back her head and laugh at something Genma said to her. He was truly amazed at how different she was, she acted so….

Kakashi's gaze went down to the smut in his hands to find the right word. He wanted to say mature?

He lifted his gaze again but decided that mature was what described the 'then' Sakura. He needed a word that described the 'now' Sakura. He wanted to say….grown up?

He flipped another page in innocence to his indecisiveness in the word. He heard a feminine laugh float over to him; he could only presume it was from Sakura. His mind halted for a minute. He now realized that was the first time that he ever heard her laugh, not since the accident. He sighed and slumped a little more in his corner.

* * *

"Why me?" 

In effect Sakura had to thank Genma for taking her out because she was for the first time in a long time having fun.

_You needed it_ Inner Sakura replied.

"You're right" she replied silently. She took a sip out of her sake cup and felt the burning liquid go down her throat. It was her third and final cup; she did after all know her limits when it came to alcohol. Even though she was technically over the age limit and this being the first time of her ever consuming an alcoholic beverage, she still didn't like the effects alcohol did to people. Also she didn't know what Genma would do to her if she had more than her limit. She didn't want to wake up the next morning with a naked Genma next to her. Sakura halted her reach to put down the empty cup to realize her last thought.

"Genma….morning…naked…."

She also just realized that she was probably the only 28 year old woman in all of Konoha that was still a virgin. Guess that was the perks of getting your age altered so quickly. Sakura only slumped her shoulders slightly from the sad thought, she thought she would have a couple of flings before she turned 25 or so but she guessed she was wrong.

_You get more choices of men though_ Inner Sakura said with a tempting smile. _Also they won't care if you are a--_

"You're not helping me here" she said staring at her empty cup.

Sakura's gaze went up to the Chunnin Examiner in front of her; he was too busy to notice her stare due to him taking a drink from his sake cup.

Shiranui Genma was in deed attractive, so would half of Konoha's female population. Every and Any woman would love to share a bed with him even if they knew it would be for a one night stand. But she had to bet that it would be the best mind blowing sex in the entire village.

Sakura looked at the soft brunette hair that was always covered by the bandana head plate and the strong jaw that accompanied the nicely built piece of Shinobi in front of her.

Sakura blinked her green eyes to realize the reason for the stare. Has the alcohol made her mind turn into a pervert? Or was it due to the fact that she didn't realize this when she agreed to go out with him in the first place?

Genma's brown eyed gaze fell in line with hers.

"See something you like?" he asked. Sakura felt her cheeks go slightly warm, she was already feeling a little warm and fuzzy due to the alcohol but she didn't want Genma to realize her sudden stare.

"Ah…." she replied quickly looking down at her sake cup. Genma only leaned an elbow onto the table with his continued stare. Sakura re-crossed her legs feeling slightly uncomfortable. God, she never felt this nervous in a long time, the last time she felt this way was when she just learned that Sasuke was on her Genin team. Her thoughts were cut short.

"You wanna dance?"

Sakura looked up at him with question.

"What?"

Genma only smiled at her.

"You wanna dance?" he repeated. Sakura's gaze went up to the small dancer floor, her eyes fell on some Shinobi that she didn't know or recognize but Asuma was there dancing with Kurenia. Her eyes softened at the sight, they looked so cute together. Her eyes went back to the offering ninja before her.

"Sure" she said. Genma got up and offered her his gloved right hand; she looked at it before she took it with her left and got up to follow him.

He gently lead her out onto the dance floor, in the background a simple song was playing not the kind of music that she was used to but the stuff her parents used to listen to. Sakura felt her heart ache due to the memory, but again the thinking was cut short by Genma causing her to go into a twirl and pulled her back in while putting his other hand above her hip and continued to hold her other hand.

Sakura's cheeks flushed due to the close proximity, she hadn't danced in a while too. She realized that she was almost level with jaw line, that very solid and masculine looking jaw.

_You are horrible_

Shut it she snapped back at her.

"So what else do you do at the hospital?"

Sakura looked up at the man leading her on the dance floor; he suddenly went into a move of twirling her out. She smiled and a laugh escaped her lips as she twirled back into his arms. He only grinned at her.

"Nothing much, just a head nurse and assistant so far"

Genma didn't say anything for a bit but continued to lead her.

"I'm just not sure if I'm ready to move on to being an intern or field medic" she continued. Sakura had thought that it would soon be time for her to go out and pursue a more serious and suited career for her, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to move on. She really did want to go higher up in her career but she didn't know as what a field nurse or an intern? Either way she would be helping more people but if she chose to go on the field she would be where the action was taken place but if she chose the hospital she would stay there and see a battle after affects.

_You're just coming up with excuses_ Inner Sakura said.

"You know you are really talkative tonight" she replied silently. Inner Sakura only giggled and continued to stare at Genma, which was annoying because every now and then she would blurt out random outburst about him in a provocative manner. Sakura couldn't agree with these thoughts due to the fact that she would blush every time she would look up at him.

She slowly raised her head to see his response to her reply.

Genma nodded his head as the beat on the music shifted to that of a slower one.

"I think you're ready" he said looking down at her, he only received a raised eyebrow in question. "Believe me, I heard from Shizune that you've been doing exceptionally well and also all of the other nurses are talking a liking to you"

Sakura only had to raise an eyebrow at his source. Shizune? Since when did she talk to anyone besides Tsunade or herself? Well she was in fact a Shinobi and she guess she did have to have some type of a social life when she wasn't keeping tabs on a certain Hokage.

Genma must have thought the same thing when he mentioned the woman because he chose to remain silent.

Sakura's eyes wandered off Genma's shoulder to glance over at Asuma and Kurenai again. How long have they been together she wondered? She barely knew them but they did look happy together. She only knew that they were and still Ino's and Hinata's teachers. She had Kurenai as a teacher when she was very little when she had to be taught the ways of the Kunoichi and Asuma, well she really didn't know what he did.

"You glad that you decided to go out with me?"

Sakura looked up at him. Genma's face held a smile but his eyes read curiosity. She realized how close their faces were; Sakura had to fight everything her body was telling her to not move so she didn't seem rude to Genma.

Genma's smile only widened due to her boldness, this only caused Sakura to blush slightly.

"I am"

A low chuckle resounded from the Shinobi.

"That's good"

Sakura only grinned at him from the comment. Her grin slowly faded due to a thought coming to her. Her eyes wandered up to Genma but he was looking at Asuma and Kurenai. She bit her lip baiting whether or not to ask him. Genma had to know Kakashi and hold some type of acquaintance with him. She just needed to know how he's been and what he's been doing during the day.

She's known Kakashi to avoiding hospitals so she knew that whenever he was injured it would take him the longest time to admit that he was injured and go get patched up.

"Genma, can I ask you something?"

Genma's eyes wandered back down to her. Sakura suddenly found it hard to ask her waiting question. Genma only raised an eyebrow in her lack of response. Sakura cleared her throat to ask him when he suddenly leaned forward till his mouth was near her ear. He must have noticed the look in her eyes.

Her breath hitched in her throat due to the closeness. She could feel his warm breath on her ear. It just caused her to shudder. She heard Genma huff from the movement.

"Is it about Kakashi?" he whispered into her ear.

Sakura only slowly nodded her head in reply. She let out the breath that she was holding and allowed it to escape her lips. Genma only leaned back slowly with a grin on his face. He then twirled her out again only to return her to his waiting arms.

"I'm sure he's doing fine"

Sakura could only look at him which earned her a dip due to the look. Sakura managed to muffle the squeak that was about to escape her mouth due to his reply.

"But that was only this morning"

Sakura rolled her eyes at the thought. Typical Kakashi to only be seen by his so called friends once in the whole 12 hours of daylight. Her thoughts went back to last night and how he reacted to her questions. She could only wonder if he was actually going to visit her because he wanted to or did he get cajoled into it by Naruto. She had to bet it was the fox doing the asking because he was being patient with her and her attitude.

_Also he's not the patient sort of guy too _Inner Sakura said.

"You got that right" she replied to her Inner self.

"But give him some time Sakura, he takes his time with these kinds of things"

_That could explain why he's always late _Inner Sakura said crossing her arms. Sakura only bit her lip again due to the answer stared at the middle of his chest.

"He'll be alright"

Sakura nodded her head at the response.

"Excuse me, Genma?" a stern voice said behind them. Genma whirled them both around to address the voice. It was a Chunnin messenger and in his hand held a scroll.

"Yes?" he said with a smile, he still continued dancing with Sakura as he addressed the Shinobi.

The boy only frowned at his actions but continued on with the message.

"You are needed to Hokage Tower"

Genma looked down at Sakura before answering. They glanced at each other before Genma broke eye contact to address the boy.

"Now?"

"Yes, now" he said holding up the scroll that had a colored tie to represent the urgency of the message. Genma only sighed and twirled Sakura around again.

"I'm sorry to say Sakura but it looks like our date has to be cut short"

He then dipped her.

"I hope that you enjoyed yourself because I know that I did" he said looking down at her from her dip position. Sakura only giggled.

"Thanks for taking me Genma I really needed it" she replied as he brought her up.

"Glad to be of service"

"Genma the Hokage" the Chunnin said impatiently.

Genma only nodded his head at him as he guided Sakura toward the door with a hand on her lower back.

"Sorry that I won't be able to walk you home" he said above her ear. Sakura felt something in her leap up. He was going to walk her home? Well, that was sweet.

_Yup, to think that chivalry isn't dead_

She reached for her coat which was hanging on the wall but Genma beat her to it by taking it off the hook and holding it out for her. Sakura faltered from the action, but he only beckoned her to come forward with a friendly smile. She came and slipped her arms into her jacket. Genma waited for her while she pulled her hair out from the collar of her jacket.

She turned to look at Genma who in turn looked to the Chunnin who nodded his head and went toward the door.

Sakura pulled her jacket closer to her body due to the change in temperature when she stepped outside. The air around her was silent due to it being the early start of fall and also it being so late into the night. Her eyes wandered over to the Chunnin now noticing his lingering presence, she had to wonder what Tsunade had to talk to him about if the messenger was still waiting around. Genma stood next to her as she flicked her gaze over at him, their eyes met.

"Feel free to come and talk to me" he said removing the toothpick from his mouth and flicking it from his fingers. Sakura nodded her head.

"I'll keep that in mind"

Genma took a step closure to her.

"Don't worry about Kakashi, he'll warm up to you in no time"

Sakura's mouth moved into a thin line as she looked to the ground. She suddenly felt a hand on her chin guiding it up to look at the man in front of her. She could only look at him before he bent toward her. Her eyes widened at the movement.

"Genma" she said firmly. She could feel his warm breath go across her lips and the huff he sent. She then heard him chuckle slightly.

"Just playin'" he said with a smile. He leaned back a little to look at her. Sakura could only stare at him from his very bold move. But she couldn't help but notice the look in his eyes which read a want of trust.

"Since I can't walk you home the best I can do is give you this" he said. Sakura was about to open her mouth to stop him but he leaned in again and laid a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Sakura froze from his action.

"Anytime now Genma" the Chunnin said. Sakura felt the heat clearly going across her cheeks as he learned back and dropped his hand from holding her chin.

Sakura blinked her green eyes at him as he turned to follow the messenger.

"See yah around Sakura" he said with a wave of his hand. He slipped his hands into his pockets as Sakura watched his departing form.

As Sakura watched Genma leave, a lone grey eye had witnessed the scene unfold behind clouded bar windows. And unbeknownst to Sakura as she turned and left the sound of sandaled feet softly following behind her.


	7. Finally Opening Up

You guys all have been very patient with me and I greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much! Love you guys bunches! Sorry for the long wait, this is due for a couple of reasons but the main two as follows: the interaction between Kakashi and Sakura and the second thing was the lack of motivation and inspiration. Yah and also I had school finals to study for which totally bombed. I only had two to do anyway. Perks for being a senior. Hehe. Yah. Well if yall get pissed about this chapter, simple explanation. What better way to get two people together then split them apart. Argh! Spoilers, don't worry nothing serious will happen...as of yet. Hehe. Well read on!

Chapter 6: Finally Opening Up

Sakura tugged on her jacket a little more to bring it closer to her body. A sigh escaped her lips but it was filled with content and satisfaction.

For the first she felt like a woman, happy at the fact that she just finished a wonderful date and she got a kiss goodnight.

_But on the cheek_ Inner Sakura pouted.

She nodded her head confirming that fact. Yes, it was on the cheek and also somewhat of a joke from Genma, but it didn't matter. A kiss was a kiss and she was content about it. Sakura looked up into the night sky till her hood fell off her head. She was still feeling a bit warm and fuzzy from the alcohol, but she knew the extent of her condition and she still could think rationally. She slipped her fingers into her jacket pockets and did a little hop in her high heels. A soft giggle escaped her lips, she felt like a girl again.

She halted in her steps.

"Like a girl." She thought. Her immediate high of euphoria went back down into the deep pits of her inner being.

_Well so much for that_ Inner Sakura said while scuffing the ground with her foot.

Sakura pushed some escaped hair behind her ear. Her actions halted remembering Genma doing the same thing for her; she couldn't get out of her head how his eyes looked. How they read certainty and a need of trust.

A smirk rose up onto her lips. She needn't think such thoughts; she did have such a good night. She took a step forward to continue her way home when a hand fell on her shoulder. Sakura whirled around to deliver a punch but her offender just caught her wrist and whirled her back around. Due to the extra movement, one of her heels caught onto an uneven piece of pavement causing her to stumble slightly. Her offender tightened her grip on her by wrapping their other arm around her waist while their hand still held onto her wrist. This prevented her from falling. Sakura sagged somewhat in relief as she was held up from her fall.

_Wait rapists don't do that_ Inner Sakura said regaining her bearings.

Sakura looked down and saw the metal bands on the back of the fingerless gloves her offender wore. In the light a shiny Konoha symbol glimmered, telling her that it was a Shinobi that had her.

"Students normally don't deck teachers." A voice said above her head.

Sakura's back straightened a little recognizing the voice.

"Kakashi?"

She turned her head and saw the outline of his masked jaw, his familiar scent swept over her telling her that is was in fact her ex-teacher.

"What are you doing?" she asked him. His hold on her shifted a little from the comment.

"I could be asking you the same question."

Sakura looked down to wear his arms were at. If a person happened to walk by just then, and it being 1 a.m., they would think that a happy couple were either tickling each other or teasing each other on an early morning stroll through the now deserted streets. Sakura noticed the location of his arms and instantly regained her balance. She felt her cheeks go warm.

_Why are you blushing all of a sudden_? Inner Sakura asked tilting her head a little. Sakura glared at her. _Had a little too much to drink?_

"Shut. It." she snapped at her inner self.

Once Kakashi saw that she had her feet firmly planted on the ground he let her go. Sakura stood there looking at him after she turned around to face him.

"You out for a stroll or something?" she asked tugging the jacket closure to her body. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her.

"You could say that." He replied tilting his head a little in regards to the question.

"Oh," she pushed some hair behind her ear before addressing him. "Well I was on my way home and—"

"Go anywhere?" he butted in. Sakura looked up at him with raised eyebrows noticing the way how he said that. She lowered her hand from her face in question to his reaction.

"Ah, yeah, as a matter a fact I did."

"With who?" he asked with curiosity. Sakura couldn't help but notice the very slight edge to that innocent question.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, was he angry at her? They made up yes but that still didn't mean that she had to ask his permission to do things. He wasn't talking to the 15-year-old student anymore; she was now his age and under a different person's tutelage. Sakura looked at him and noticed that the usual languid slouch that he held was a little rigid with tension? And also how his shoulders did not hunch forward as much as they usually do, she had to say that he was upset with her.

"With a friend," she replied gently while looking at him. He nodded his head at her, but she didn't miss the hardening of the jaw. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "Well it was nice seeing you Kakashi but I need to get home."

She tilted her head in goodbye and turned on her heel and began walking again. She wasn't even a block away when she heard his footsteps behind her. She found it very odd that he was even out at this time of night; he stayed up late to read but not to walk around town and follow her home none the less. She felt awkward having him follow her so closely; she drew her arms up and held her elbows. She whirled back around. There he was standing there as if it was the first time that she noticed his presence.

"What are you doing?" she asked with question. He looked at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"Walking." He replied nonchalantly. Sakura narrowed her eyebrows at the reply.

At that moment Genma's words floated into her mind.

_"But give him some time Sakura, he takes his t__ime with these kinds of things."_

She would have given him plenty of time to come and talk to her, but now that he actually _was _right in front of her, she was irritated about what Genma said to her. Irritated at the fact that it's taking him _this_ long.

In fact she had given him time to come talk to her and when he did actually come, she had a hunch that he was pestered into doing it and he wasn't exactly being open with her. She waited for him, in the months that she was trying to get used to being a grown up she could have really used his presence, but she was feed up with waiting. She thought that they got over this that was what she hoped last night was about; they did make up, but now it was based all on trust. Not just trust with her but trust in her decisions as an adult.

"Is that all?" she asked dropping him a slight hint of her now fueled irritation. He raised an eyebrow noticing the voice, but didn't show that it bothered him. Instead he raised a hand and scratched at the back of his neck.

"Well, you see I found this lost puppy and I went to go find—"

Sakura pursued her lips at him, he noticed her voice but he still chose to ignore it. This only made her irritation turn into anger.

"Cut the crap, Kakashi. Why are you following me?" she asked as she crossed her arms. He lowered his hand looking at her.

"Just wanted to see you home." He replied with a shrug. Sakura's jaw tensed from the statement, he must have seen her exit the bar and so he made it his duty to follow her home. In other words:

_He thinks we're drunk_ Inner Sakura said crossing her arms in a huff.

"I can take care of myself." She said turning around and started walking away from him. To her dismay she heard his footsteps behind her. She stopped and turned to look at him. "I can walk myself home."

He huffed at her. Wait. Huffed?

"Then how was it that I caught you off guard back there?" he asked jerking his head back to where they first met up. He still used a soft tone of voice but in it read question.

"I—"

She held back her reply; she wasn't going to tell him that it was Genma that invited her to the bar. She didn't know what his reaction would be like, probably less of a reaction than that of Naruto's but Kakashi was far better than Genma as a Shinobi and she knew that he could beat Genma any day.

"I was thinking about something." She replied to the awaiting Copy Nin. Kakashi's face didn't change but she could bet that he was frowning at her under that damn mask of his.

"A real ninja is always aware of their surroundings so that—"

"I know." Sakura butted in. "It's the Rule of the Shinobi, you've cited it to me about a hundred times now."

"Then you could understand why it's important that you are aware of your surroundings." He said this as he too crossed his arms. Sakura unfolded hers and settled a hand on her hip. "If I had been someone else, you could have a kunai in you."

"But you weren't." she said. Sakura looked at him and still saw the hardened jaw. "Is this what this is about?"

His jaw slackened slightly at her question.

"What?" he asked in confusion. Sakura's eyes widened from that remark. He knew what she was talking about.

"Don't play dumb with me, Kakashi. I know you saw me leave the bar."

"Then you could understand why I'm following you home." He replied narrowing his eye.

"No, actually I don't," she said crossing her arms. "I really don't see why."

"Sakura—"

Sakura beat him to the punch. "You think I'm drunk, don't you?" she said looking right at him.

His eye expanded slightly at her remark, he now was in the position where he could not avoid her emotion behind her questions. Except he didn't say anything but uncross his arms and slip a hand into his pocket. Sakura opened her mouth at him from his lack of response.

"Do you think that I'm drunk?" she asked again a little louder and more defensive than before.

"You smell like alcohol, Sakura. Also it was your first time—"

"I know my limit Kakashi," she said waving a hand in front of her. "Also I have a clear enough mind as to knowing what I'm saying at the moment."

"Do you really?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He didn't trust her. He didn't trust her enough to allow her to be out and about late at night. And also for the fact that she had her first real taste of alcohol in her 28 year old life. He made it seem like she was a Genin again.

Another part of Genma's words floated to her.

_"Don't worry about Kakashi, he'll warm up to you in no time"_

She didn't know what to do at the moment. All she could do right now was just stare at him. She couldn't believe that he thought she was drunk.

"Look a friend asked me out to dinner and a couple of drinks were offered, nothing more happened." She said this while controlling her anger.

"Oh, really?"

Sakura only narrowed her eyes at his response.

"What's your problem Kakashi? You make it seem that I committed a crime with the way you're acting."

His eye got bigger from her remark.

"You don't get it do you?"

"No, I don't apparently."

"This is your first time ever coming out."

"Your point?"

A silver eyebrow narrowed at her smart remark.

"I just hoped that you would be mindful of your actions—"

Sakura interrupted him from that statement.

"Wait my actions?"

The Copy Nin only hardened his jaw.

"Your actions as a responsible adult Sakura, it's not every day that a fifteen year old gets turned into a twenty-eight year old." He said this to her as if she was a twelve year old.

Something in Sakura snapped from that remark. No use holding back her anger.

"You think I'm happy with this?" She instantly saw the regret in his eye as she confronted him.

"Sakura I didn't—"

"Do you think that I'm happy with the fact that I can longer talk to _my _childhood friends? Do you think that I'm happy with the fact that it's taking you _this_ long to even talk to me?"

She saw Kakashi take a step back from her anger.

"I'm no longer your Genin Kakashi! I'm not a twelve and fifteen year old anymore. The Sakura Haruno that you remembered is dead, she can never come back."

Sakura just watched him stare at her. He still didn't say anything to her, nothing to counter her accusations.

_"Just let it go."_

Sakura's eyes widened at the words Genma said to her. She allowed an exasperated sigh escape her lips.

"God, he was right. He was absolutely right." She averted her gaze to contemplate her words.

"He was right to tell me to just let it go," she looked down at the ground. "Since I thought I could hold onto the fact that you and I could still be comrades even after the accident….But now…….. I see that we can't……. with your hanging guilt and mistrust for me and _my _decisions."

She flicked her eyes back over to Kakashi and saw him raise an eyebrow at her use of the word 'he'. Sakura looked up and saw the line of his jaw move telling her that was going to say something but she wasn't going to allow that to happen.

"Genma was the one that took me out."

She saw the jaw close and harden but he didn't say anything.

"Yes, Genma was the one that took me out and took me to the bar. And do you want to know why I allowed that?"

"Because he's a known flirt." Kakashi replied icily.

"No, because he's the only on in _months_ to even come up and have an actual conversation with me. Since none of my friends are talking to me and my ex-teacher can't get the nerve to even to trust me—"

"Sakura."

"Stop!"

Both Shinobi went silent from the outburst. The night air even was silenced by its eavesdropping.

"Until you trust _me_ Kakashi……" she looked at him and clenched her teeth. " I'm not sure if we can still be considered friends."

His eye widened at her statement. Inside Sakura was hurting because she didn't want to do this but in order for him to trust her and her decisions it had to be done this way. But on the outside Sakura was angry at him for his lack of response to her assailing questions and also his lack of emotion.

"Sakura, I—"

"It's late, I need to get home."

She turned on her heel and began walking away.

"Sakura wait."

She didn't stop or turn around to acknowledge his final response.

"Sakura will you listen to me."

That was then she felt him take hold of her arm with a firm and hard grip. It hurt her. How dare he touch her after what she said to him and not respond. She whirled back around to face him just as her open palm connected with his face.

She stood there shaking from her action. Sakura didn't know what came over her but all she could do was just look up at him. She felt like crying but her eyes held no tears just disappointment. Her gaze lingered to the side of him.

The Copy Nin's hold on her arm slackened and feel away, both from shock and from the slap. He looked at the Kunoichi in front of him.

"Do yourself a favor Kakashi," she raised her gaze to fix them on his visible eye. "Just. Let it go."

She stepped back and turned to continued her walk home.

"Sakura."

She stopped at the voice and the now sudden use of emotion. It read remorse and a want of understanding. But she wasn't going to allow that to take back what she said.

The air around them still remained silent, but a gentle and cold breeze swept between them. They both didn't say a word to each other until the pink haired woman decided to break that silence.

"Good night, Hatake."

And with that she disappeared into the night leaving behind a rather annoyed and hurt Copy Ninja.

* * *

"Report?" Tsunade said looking at the Shinobi in front of her. 

"The target agreed to the engagement and I left the scene once I received the signal."

Tsunade only raised a honeyed eyebrow at the remark.

"And how did the target react?"

The Shinobi in front of her thought about the question before replying.

"The target expressed a reaction of gratitude and also contentment."

The woman next to the seated Hokage only shifted slightly stifling a giggle. The older woman glanced in her direction for a minute, thoughts mulling over in her mind. A sigh escaped her lips with relief for the report.

"And what of the suspect?" she said looking over the scroll that the Shinobi handed her earlier that late evening.

"Could only be expressed with loath and total hatred toward the interaction of the target."

A grin slowly spread on her face.

"Was he really that upset with you?" she said lifting her head to address the Shinobi. "Genma."

The brunette only twirled the replaced sendon and scratched at the back of his head.

"Yes, he couldn't hide the discomfort even with that book he's always reading but I could tell that he was annoyed at me and also Sakura."

The Hokage allowed a huff come out of her.

"How so?"

Genma tilted his head in thought as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"I guess for the fact that it was about ten o'clock and Sakura was still out and also for the fact that she was in a bar, drinking, and with me." He looked at the Hokage with a sly smile, but his attention only flicked over to the short haired girl next to her.

Shizune only blushed slightly and looked down at the pink pig in her arms.

"I see." She said noticing the interaction between the two younger Shinobi.

"He walks around with guilt but when he's in proximity of her, he acts like a jealous boyfriend." Genma continued returning his gaze to the Sannin.

"Well, you know Kakashi better than I do Genma," Tsunade shifted in her chair slightly. "He does have the tendency of hanging onto things for a while."

The man only nodded and looked down at the ground. He heard a sigh from the older woman.

"I'm just glad that she was able to get out of that hospital and be out among people."

Genma raised his head and looked at the blonde.

"So am I."

"It's good for her to be out and about and it helps her 'situation'," she rolled up the mission scroll and tossed it into the growing pile next to her desk. "But also it was good for Kakashi to see her too. I just hope that those two begin talking again."

"You think by setting Sakura up on a date they will begin talking again?"

The Hokage nodded her head in reply.

"Naruto tells me that Sakura stays up in the late hours of the night doing paperwork and Kakashi is found sulking on that old bridge that Team 7 used to use," she chuckled slightly from a thought that crossed her mind. "In fact Naruto was the one that came up with the idea."

"Lady Tsunade your evil." Shizune replied. The Sannin glanced over at the girl and returned her gaze to the man in front of her.

"Yes, Yes, I know. But it was for their own good."

She heard a disappointed sigh escape from the woman next to her.

"Is that all Lady Hokage?" asked Genma. Tsunade looked at him then slowly shook her head.

"No, that is all." She replied. "You can go Genma and thank you."

"No problem."

He turned and walked toward the double doors leading into to the large office.

"Oh, and Genma?"

The said Shinobi stopped and turned to face the Hokage.

"I appreciate what you did for Sakura."

The Sendon Wielder only smiled.

"Think nothing of it."

"Yes but," the older woman continued. "If suddenly decide to be your normal flirtatious self, I don't need to remind you that I _was_ the one that taught Sakura that inhuman strength of hers and I won't be as gentle as I normally am when it's your soon approaching physical examination. Do I make myself clear?"

The man at the door was silent for a while till a feeble.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Good, now leave."

The sound of a door being closed shut greeted her ears as Tsunade picked up a cold cup of tea. She heard another sigh escape from her assistant.

"Evil, just pure evil." Shizune said shaking her head.

The Hokage only smiled into her cup of cold tea.


	8. Coming Out of Society

Yo! Yet another chapter done, well I had this one done but I had to get it beta-ed. So thanks Maahiyum for being my Beta!! Glomp attack! Okay well enjoy this chapter! More is yet to come!

Oh! And if yall can't remember what happened so far. Remember Sakura got hit by this syringe full of this fluid like stuff from Kabuto which jump started her aging process by 14 years. In other words she's about 27 or 28 years of age. So this is her story on how she deals with this studden jump. Well enough recap! Enjoy! Always enjoy reviews too!

* * *

Chapter 8: Coming Out of Society

The sound of birds and giggling children slowly floated into Sakura's ears as she laid in bed. Her hand clenched slightly from reflex as she took a deep breath in. She slowly cracked open a green eye to stare ahead of her, her gaze fell onto her hands and then the morning light that silently fell to her floor.

It was morning, the start of a brand new day.

She blinked her eyes and snuggled further into her warm blankets, thoughts finally coming out of their nocturnal slumber. She shifted onto her back so she could stare at the ceiling; a small smile graced her lips reminding her of last night's events. At the moment Sakura felt comfortable and refreshed, with an arm above her head and the other resting on her stomach, she could have easily fallen back asleep. But she wasn't feeling up to it.

"What a night." She whispered to herself as she rolled onto her other side. She snuggled further into the blankets regarding the question.

Her eyes snapped open remembering her argument with Kakashi. She bolted upright, thoughts in a wave of panic.

"What did I do? I wasn't that drunk was I?" she said clutching her head. "I mean I only had three drinks."

_Dude, calm down. It's too early morning for drama_ Inner Sakura said while she stretched. _I mean come on, you finally told him what was on your mind and well he heard you. _

"Yes, but I didn't mean to be_ that_ mean."

_You are too forgiving_

"Oh, thanks."

_Hey, let me remind you I was actually silent for once, you were the one doing all the talking_

"Yeah, but—"

_Listen, he was asking for it. We've been waiting for him for a long time, but he chose to not open to us. We had the last straw in this; don't regret what you said to him. _

"I know, but it's just that," Sakura swung her legs off her bed and settled them onto the wood floor. "I don't know what it's going to take for him to trust me."

_Beats me, maybe a mission together?_

"Like that's ever going to happen."

She pushed off her bed and went toward her desk which had several piles of her borrowed clothing resting on its surface. She pilfered through the piles till she settled on a pair of Jounin pants and sleeveless blouse. The black pants matched the green blouse nicely and with her jacket from last night, it would complete the ensemble.

She made her way toward her bathroom when her bare foot kicked the strapless bra that Genma bought her. She stared down at the black piece of material till she decided to scoop it up.

_I wonder how Genma knew our size_ Inner Sakura said regarding the article in their hands.

"Beats me, but I have a hunch that he talked to a certain Pervy Sage."

Inner Sakura only giggled at her as she tucked the bra under her arm and continued her way toward the bathroom.

_So what are we going to do today?_ Inner Sakura asked.

Sakura glanced at herself in the mirror as she vigorously rubbed a towel over her wet hair. She could see Inner Sakura hovering just above her in the reflection of the mirror. She found that Inner Sakura could not only be seen in her mind but also in mirrors, lucky she was the only one that could see her.

"I don't know," she said through the towel. "Since it's my day off I thought we could…….."

_Could what?_

"I don't know, finally go shopping?"

She heard no response from her other self, she glanced up at her after she took the towel off her head.

_About time. _She said crossing her arms.

"Shut up."

"Are you sure you really want to do this?" she asked looking over her shoulder for the tenth time that morning.

_Don't talk yourself out of it, we need to do this whether you like it or not_

"I know but," Sakura looked down at the ground for a minute before looking up. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to be going 'out in society'."

_You proved that by last night._

"Why do you—"

"Miss. Haruno good morning!" a cheery voice greeted her. Sakura broke her inner argument with herself and turned her attention to the elderly lady to her left. Her green eyes lit up recognizing the person.

"Good morning Mrs. Hanaka. How are you this morning?"

The woman only smiled at her and bowed her head in return to Sakura's question.

"Very fine, thank you!" she smiled at the young woman as she continued to water her plants. "I was just telling Felise here that it's soon approaching fall, and I want to remind you to make sure that you bundle up when you're out walking around at night."

Sakura smiled at her. Felise was the old tabby that Mrs. Hanaka kept around her home.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you Mrs. Hanaka."

"You're welcome, deary!"

Sakura glanced down at the roses that she was watering, they still were in bloom but if you looked at the others they were wilting at the tips and turning a pale pink. Sakura looked at the old woman in question.

"Might I ask how you know that fall is already coming? I mean it's barely even summer."

The elderly woman only chuckled at her, wrinkles around her eyes made her even more ancient than she already was.

"Oh, just my women's intuition that's all, when you get old, you tend to sense things that younger folks normally don't feel."

Sakura only grinned at the reply.

"That's understandable." She said nodding her head. A thought suddenly crossed her mind. "Mrs. Hanaka, how are you holding up by the way?"

"What's that deary?" she said looking up from her watering. Sakura only smiled at her.

"I asked how are you doing? Your last visit was a little over a month ago; I was wondering how you have been since then?"

"I've been doing fine, just fine."  
Sakura raised her eyebrows at the elderly woman. Mrs. Hanaka had a running case of arthritis in her knees and wrists. She would come in once a month to get chakra therapy sessions with her or with one of the other nurses on the floor. Mrs. Hanaka would normally ask for Sakura due to the other nurses being too rough or jerky with their applications.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm not sure what you did on my last visit but I've been pain free for weeks and I think it will last me till next month!"

The woman proved her point by crouching down to pick up the old tabby, when before she barely could touch her toes.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that Mrs. Hanaka." Sakura said smiling.

"It is deary, it is." She said glancing down at the old feline in her arms.

"Well it's nice seeing you again—"

"Oh, but I want to give you something in return."

"Oh, Mrs. Hanaka I don't want—"  
"I insist!" she said waving her hand at her. "Since you've been a wonderful doctor to me, you deserve a reward for your efforts."

She settled the fat tabby down so she could pull a pair of clippers from her pocket and clipped one of her roses and handed it to Sakura.

"It would match your hair very nicely." She said smiling at her. Sakura looked at the rose she was given. The petals were a very pale shade of pink, nearly white in comparison to the others.

"Well thank you, Mrs. Hanaka." She said bowing towards her. "It's beautiful."

"Here, let me help you put it in your hair."

Sakura handed back the rose to her so she could slip it into the messy bun that held her hair back. She felt a tug and a little pull but the flower was gently put into place among the pink strands.

"There!" she said whipping her hands on her sides. "Come by any time deary!"

"I'll keep that in mind." She said reaching up and gently touching the flower petals. "See you again Mrs. Hanaka!"

"You too deary!"

Sakura waved good-bye and continued her way into town.

_See! You it seems that everyone respects you more for what you're doing_ Inner Sakura said punching her inner self in the arm.

Sakura continued walking regarding the statement; a smile broke onto her lips remembering the happiness the old woman sprinkled on her.

"You're right," she said lifting her head up. "Now let's go shopping."

_Cha!_

Sakura laughed at her inner self as the business district of Konoha finally came into view.

"Where do I go now?" Sakura muttered as she peered around the various shops in the shopping district. Jade eyes peered down at the bags hanging from her wrist and into the new shoulder bag that she had slung over her shoulder.

_I can't believe you bought that thing_ Inner Sakura muttered as the real Sakura ducked into another clothing store suited for all ninjas. She had been referring to the shoulder bag. _And I thought that buying your own syringes was a waste of money. You could have easily taken them from the hospital. _

"Hey, I needed this thing," she snapped back. Sakura halted her pilfering through a clothing rack and realized that she had said her outburst out loud.

A women that was looking at some shoes gave her a strange look. Sakura ducked her head a little and continued looking through the clothing rack.

"It's kind of hard to carry all these bags around in your hands."

"Talking to yourself Sakura-chan?"

Sakura froze slightly recognizing the voice that addressed her. She turned her head and saw Maito Gai directly behind her as he too was pilfering through a clothing rack.

"Gai-sensei."

Gai shook his head at his name preference.

"Now, now we're both adults and equals no need to be calling me 'sensei'."

Sakura closed her mouth in thought about the statement, Kakashi told her something similar to that.

Gai only gave her a trademark smile before resuming his own shopping. Sakura grinned at his friendliness before she too continued.

"What brings you out Gai sen-" Sakura stopped herself from using the honor title. Gai ignored her phrasing and picked up her dropped sentence.

"What brings me out and about when I should be training the future Youths of Konoha, are you asking?"

He turned his head to look over his shoulder as he asked this; Sakura nodded her head to the question. He grinned at her before turning his head back to the clothing rack.

"I too have an outside life Sakura and sometimes I am in need of such things like….ah-ha!"

Sakura turned around to see just what he was talking about; it was then that she watched him pull out an identical matching pair of green spandex suits that both Lee and him were quite fond of.

Sakura inwardly shuddered as she watched the older man happily skip over to her and tugged her toward the teller. She had her purchases already in hand she just thought it would be rude if she suddenly up and left while talking to Gai.

"But enough of me. I see that you're getting along quite nicely."

He nodded toward the bag over her shoulder that was carrying a number of her purchases she made earlier that day with a few more bags hanging off one of her wrists.

Sakura glanced at her shoulder bag and gave a slight grin at the Green Spandex clad man.

"Just catching up on some shopping," she said as she watched Gai settle his purchase on the counter. "Haven't had the time really to go out and around town."

"Yes, Yes, The wonders of Youth."

Sakura gave him a weak smile. The last time she went shopping, she was with Ino, Hinata, and TenTen. But due to recent events, Sakura found herself walking the Konoha streets without a friend on either side of her.

Sakura inwardly held in a sigh, no need to be thinking about such things when she had such a good afternoon. Naruto even volunteered to go shopping with her when she finally decided to go but Jairaya announced an impromptu training lesson on him that morning.

Sakura looked at Gai for a little remembering the time in Suna when Kakashi out did himself with his Sharingan. A small smile lifted on her lips on his little "stunt" to get Kakashi back to Konoha as quickly as possible.

Speaking of the stunt, Sakura was wondering why Gai was acting mellow around her. Normally he would be proclaiming the wonders of youth to her like he always did and how training will make you better, faster, and stronger.

But she had a hankering that he was being mellow to her due to her not being used to his over exuberant ways. Her thoughts went back to the few encounters she had with the Spandex man but Kakashi kept interfering. A little twinge of worry came at the mention of the Copy Nin.

"Gai…"

The Green Beast looked over at her after thanking the salesclerk.

"You wouldn't have run into Kakashi lately have you?"

The Green Beast looked at her for a little before responding. She had no idea why she was so upset about him, she finally told him a piece of her mind last night and with the way she was fretting over him made it seem that she was regretting her words and also her decision.

Gai looked at her before answering.

"You haven't had lunch have you?" he asked with a shift of his shopping bag.

Sakura blinked at his response as her mouth moved into a thin line.

"Um, no I haven't and you—"

"And I will tell you your answer during lunch. Come Youthful Flower, I hunger!"

"Great." Sakura thought as she was gently guided toward the door and down to the food district of Konoha.

Sakura looked over at Gai as he devoured his second bowl of ramen, she was beginning to wonder if not only Naruto ate more than what was considered healthy or just men in general ate a lot. Sakura leaned back in her chair and glanced over at her purchases, on their way toward the food district Gai actually pulled her into another Ninja paraphernalia store and wandered around there for about another hour. She in turn got some new kunai and ninja boots, due to her old ones not being able to fit her. This then caused her to look at some of the Kunoichi clothing, which then prompted her into buying some fishnet under armor and a brand new set of shin guards that Gai persuaded her into buying.

"I really did not see the need to buy those things," she muttered as she took another sip out of her tea, she had been talking about the shin guards.

_But I would have to admit they did look good on us._

Sakura hid her grin behind her tea cup again.

Her shoulder bag now sported the items that were on her wrist earlier while she carried the new ninja gear, which was too heavy to be placed into her bag. She spent enough on clothes in one single day than she had in a whole year. Talk about feeling broke at the moment. Sakura wasn't normally the one to be fickle with girly matters; she thought it overly tedious and annoying. Why spend so much on clothes when you could simply buy a new pair of katanas for half the price?

_Many of us are not Shinobi_ Inner Sakura reminded her.

The real Sakura nodded her head agreeing with her inner self.

"So Sakura."

Sakura turned her gaze back to the green lad man in front of her, who also happened to be buying her lunch.

"What was it that you wanted to ask me?"

She swallowed the small portion of tea that she was holding in her mouth before answering him.

"I was wondering if you'd seen Kakashi?" she repeated as she helplessly noticed her gaze falling down to her lap.

Gai leaned back in his chair hearing her question.

"Sakura, can I ask you something?"

Sakura fought the urge to raise any eyebrow at his avoiding questions.

"If you're thinking that I'm avoiding your question, I'm not but it is in regards of the one you speak of."

Sakura looked at him and nodded her head.

He tilted his head at her in debating thought.

"When you were in the bar last night," he said. Sakura opened her mouth to counter his assumption but he swiftly continued. "Were you fully aware of your actions?"

Sakura's eyes widened a fraction at the question.

"Of course I was," she said pushing some hair behind her ear. "I'm sure that many shinobi may think that I'm still the fifteen year old girl but I think I was fully capable of my actions the other night."

Gai shifted in his seat a little from his inclined state.

"Yes, I think you were but do you think Kakashi thought the same thing?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond. That could explain the mellow attitude toward her, Gai was recovering from a hangover from hanging out in the bar last night.

_Swell..So he's only nice to us because of his little drinking escapade last night. _

"Sakura I know it has been a couple months since the accident but remember Kakashi is still taking this change like the first night it was discovered."

"I know," Sakura interjected. "He still thinks it's his fault."

"Exactly and I don't think it was in your best interest to be flaunting your new adult body at bar of all places."

Sakura's jaw dropped at the statement.

"I wasn't flaunting it," she said sitting a little straighter in her seat. "I was enjoying the night out with a fellow Shinobi…."

Sakura stared at Gai noticing the raised caterpillar like eyebrow. She felt some heat creep onto her cheeks; she ducked her head slightly realizing the late comprehension on last night's events.

"…okay. I guess it wasn't a good idea but what else could have I done?"

"You could have done many different things, but going out to a bar wouldn't be one of them."

Sakura leaned her elbow on the table and rested her forehead in the palm of her hand.

"Great. Now everyone is going to think that I'm some tramp or something."

Gai chuckled at her little comment.

"Just think a little more before you act, you'll get a hang of it in no time," Sakura nodded at his words as he leaned forward and took up his cup of tea. "Actually Sakura I wanted to ask you something on a more Shinobi level."

"Like what?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, on a Shinobi level?

Gai took a sip from his tea before he answered her.

"Have you been training since the accident?"

Sakura looked at him as she thought about it. In all reality she hadn't had found the time to even get away from the hospital to train. Due to the accident, working at the hospital and getting used to being an adult left her drained at the end of each day.

Her lack of response told her answer to Gai.

"I take that as a no," he said. "Its very important that you train Sakura and especially with your new body."

Sakura rose an eyebrow at him, she was the nurse and she was getting medical advice from a Tai-getsu Master.

"What do you mean?"

"During the years when you were training with the Hokage, you and your body were becoming in sync with one another. Both knowing how much chakra is needed to increase your strength, leap over trees, or treat the wounded. Since the accident your body has taken on a new surge of chakra that it's not used to. You don't know how much more or less chakra is needed to do the things you used to be capable of doing.

"If you suddenly are thrown into a mission and without training during your leave, you'll find yourself in a serious predicament. You will find yourself fighting your own abilities due to your body trying to cope with these new changes. While at the same time its being subjugated to extreme pressure and stress.

He was received with a calculated look from the woman in front of him.

"But the important thing is that you don't know what your capable of doing at this point. Lady Tsunade and myself included, are wondering the same thing. I'm also to the assumption that you don't even know what your chakra element is as well."

Sakura tilted her head at him in slight though to the question. She heard that Naruto was a wind element chakra wielder. She on the other hand had no idea just what element her chakra preferred. From what she gathered Kakashi was lightening, Yamato was an earth and water element, which in turn created a wood element due to the blood transfusion he had when Orochimaru captured him when he was an infant.

Gai received a shake of the head as his final answer.

"What has that woman been teaching you?" he asked leaning back in his chair. Sakura found that comment a slight insult but Gai moved on in the conversation.

"Don't find it an insult Sakura, but you really need to know your chakra element if you want to continue to being a Shinobi. I learned in an early age, that all my training and skills would be chakra-less but since you already work with medical jutsu its important to know just what element your chakra works best. Any element will work but if you want to specialize your jutsu's or even attacks its important to know just what element you need to base them off of."

Sakura nodded her head in eager understanding to the question.

"So I need to be trained, in order to get used to everything again?" she said piecing his words together.

Gai smiled at her.

"That would be correct, I take it that you would normally train under Kakashi or Lady Tsunade but under the circumstances neither teacher is attainable at the moment."

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose at this, again he was right. Kakashi and her were having complications with each other and their little argument last night clearly proved their distrust for one another. Tsunade at the present times, was under a lot of pressure with the upcoming Shinobi exams which included the Chuunin, Genin, and Jounin Trials.

Sakura looked back up at the Green Beast.

"So who do you have in mind?"

Gai gave her his signature smile, causing Sakura to slightly die inside. He wasn't?

Sakura raised both eyebrows at his expression, she leaned back in her chair with a slight slouch.

"You're not suggesting?"

Gai leaned an arm on the table.

"That I be the one to train you? Why of course!"

Sakura nearly fell out of her chair at the response and how he said it. He sounded so confident and so optimistic.

"What makes you think that I'm going to train with you?" she asked pushing some escaped hair behind an ear.

"Well for the fact that none of your acquainted instructors are present at the moment nor are they willing to train you."

Sakura slouched a little more in her chair at his words. She knew that Kakashi wouldn't want to train her not after what she said to him, Tsunade was too busy with Hokage business, Yamato was gone on ANBU business, and Shizune was busy keeping tabs on the Hokage.

"But also," Gai continued. "I have a hankering that you could learn a jutsu that my Lee-chan can't perform."

The pink haired woman tilted her head in question.

"Why's that?" she asked reaching for her forgotten tea cup.

"Because the certain technique that I'm talking about requires a great deal of chakra control and my Lee-chan bases all his attacks without chakra."

Sakura moved her mouth into an "o" before moving her eyes from the man in front of her. She already knew that Lee based his attacks without chakra but he was capable of tapping into the Eternal Gates that dwell inside his chakra highways. She knew that he could open at least Four of the Six Gates, any more than four and Lee could kill himself due to the chakra exertion.

Sakura looked at the adult in front of her, fingers circling the rim of her cup.

"So what you're saying is," she said leaning back slightly to get a better view of him. "that you want to train me so I can figure out my chakra element and also learn a new jutsu that your _Lee-chan_ couldn't learn?"

Gai nodded his head with a slight grin pulled onto his face.

Sakura tapped her fingers on her cup, thoughts going over his offer. It seemed very tempting but there was no way in hell was she going to be training under a green spandex clad man. She had a bet that he would stick her in a spandex suit too, if he dead she would gladly commit suicide. If she was going to do any training, first it would be by herself. She would only need an instructor if she was trying to perform some complex move, but she wasn't so she didn't need his services.

She returned a jade gaze to the black orbs in front of her.

"I thank you for the offer Gai, but I think I can train myself."

Gai's grin broke into a slight smile, causing Sakura to raise an eyebrow.

"Ah yes, still wanting to claim your independence like an adult. Alright fine, I understand that but my offer still stands."

He got up and laid out a number of paper bills on their table, Sakura was about to make a move to her wallet but Gai stopped her by handing their fee to the waitress that happened to walk by.

"Remember Sakura, train whenever you have the time. The sooner the better," he got up and scooted his chair out. "thank you for having lunch with me and I rather enjoyed our little shopping excursion."

Sakura glanced over at the bags sitting next to her. The money she spent today, would take about a month's worth of missions or about three months of hospital shifts. Either way she had started her wardrobe shopping and was about halfway done of replenishing her dressers and closet. Now the only problem that was left was longerie shopping and also finishing her Ninja gear collection. Gai had her get those new shin guards and Sakura already spent enough on some new fishnet under-armor.

Sakura turned her gaze back at the Tai-Justu master in front of her.

"No problem, it was rather nice not shopping alone."

Gai gave her a sparkling smile.

"Glad to be of service. I'll see you around."

"Yah, you too."

Gai gave her a curt nod and started walking in the direction back toward the business district of Konoha. Sakura watched after him, thinking on his words.

_So what are we going to do now?_

She had already got up and was picking up her shopping bags and turned in the direction of her home.

"Well, first get home, check the mail, eat something if I'm still hungry, put my clothes away, and..."

She shifted her grip on her bags as she thought of the other possibilities to spend the rest of her evening.

_Thats it?_

Sakura remained silent for a bit as she walked.

"And I think that tonight would be a good night to out and train."

* * *

Kabuto glanced down at the vials that he had in his hands, a sign that yet another test failed again. He cursed under his breath as he disposed of the vials and began refilling them with a base chemical agent.

"Yet another month goes by and I'm no step closure to replicating the Serum of Reverse Death."

His gaze leveled with a very tattered and weather beaten scroll, it being so old and decrepid it was difficult to read the words written on its surface. He traced a finger down the withered paper reading what he could make out.

"If only that stupid Sakura Haruno did not get in the way, then Hatake Kakashi would be dead already," he said more to himself than to the figure that was leaning up against the wall a little ways from him. "If only your friends did not get in the way, Sasuke-kun."

Kabuto's glasses flashed a little when he turned his gaze upon the remaining Uchiha. Sasuke merely crossed his arms across his chest.

"It is not of my concern if my old comrades foiled your mission Kabuto. You failed in terminating Hatake Kakashi and in turn wasted the **only** copy of the Serum."

Kabuto's fingers clenched around the vail that he still had in his hand, he settled it into a wood stand to disguise his agitation. But the Uchiha noticed the aggravation and continued.

"Orochimaru-sama is still wanting another copy of that Serum Kabuto, he's been rather patient with you up till now. I suggest that you hurry in appeasing your Master."

Kabuto's jaw hardened as he heard the Uchiha's footsteps leave the small laboratory. He turned back toward his lab table and stared at the scroll in front of him.

"Just wait Sasuke-kun, just wait."

* * *


	9. Giving Into Pressure

Metamorphosis

I want to thank all those people who waited patiently for Meta! *Hugs to you all* Ripples needs a little more work. I realized that my last upload was very short. Going to reward those patient people with a long update. But read on people!

* * *

Chapter 8: Giving Into The Pressure

Gai raised an eyebrow at the pink haired kunoichi in front of him.

"So you tried training last night, am I correct?"

Sakura nodded her head as she buried her nose into the coffee cup. She didn't hear Gai say anything but she knew that he was thinking along the lines of _I told you so_. He leaned back in his chair and propped an elbow on his armrest.

"Tell me about it."

A pink eyebrow twitched remembering the previous night.

_Sakura felt the wind flutter across her cheek as she breathed in the cool night air. It had been about three months since she set foot onto that training ground. It had been three months since she took up her Kunoichi skills. _

_The night air seemed to feed her anxiety as the soon approaching adrenaline and stamina would soon course through her veins. _

_Jade orbs swept over the clearing, noticing the silence that she commanded on the training grounds. _

_Sakura closed her eyes and felt the power within her rumble slightly due to it being in the confides of her body for far too long. She allowed her chakra to sweep through her. Sakura gasped at the sudden flux of power, never before had she have this much chakra within her. Her breathing hitched in the back of her throat as she tried to get used to this new foreign feeling. She lessened the amount of chakra going through her so she could become more sync with herself. _

_Sakura took an intake of breath as she refocused her power. She could feel the chakra within her fighting against itself as she held it back. Sakura clenched her fist slightly feeling how uncomfortable it felt within her; she let go of the building pressure so she could recalculate her plan of initiation. _

"_Allow the chakra to flow, feel the pulse within you…don't hold back." Sakura thought as she remembered what her teacher had taught her. _

_Sakura narrowed her eyes to allow her concentration to be more focused. She focused on the pathways again, feeling that they held more untamed chakra within her. _

"_Breath…that is the key…breath and don't fight it."_

_Inside her the power pulsed like a beating heartbeat but it just did not want to be controlled by anyone. It wanted freedom and the ability to expand past its prison within her body. _

_Sakura tapped into the line again, instantly feeling the constricting power that the chakra did to her when she wrapped herself around it. Her breathing hitched in her throat and her breathing became sharp and shallow. _

_But instead of letting it go, Sakura focused the chakra into her right fist to try to accomplish the one thing that she was known for doing. _

_Mustering all the chakra into her fist, Sakura swiftly executed her move by slamming her fist into the very ground she was standing on. Dust exploded around her as the sound of cracking earth filled her ears. Sakura smirked slightly through the dust and dirt, loving the sound that the earth made. The silence around her reminded her of the many hours she spend training with her Shishou. _

_As the dust settled around her, Sakura's green eyes narrowed at the spectacle about her. Instead of the ground being decimated into large chunks of earth, only large cracks littered the ground. _

_Sakura straightened up to survey the extent of her attack. The power she commanded those many months ago was gone, she was now back to square one._

_For the next couple of hours Sakura went back through the various techniques in training that Tsunade and Kakashi had taught her, but only found that each move she executed was sloppy and uncontrolled. _

_Sakura rested her palms onto her knees to catch her breath and view the scene before her. The ground only held cracks and dips, not to the familiar craters and fissures. She straightened up and wiped the growing sweat from her brow. _

_"He was right…."_

Gai raised a fuzzy eyebrow after hearing the tale from the pink haired woman in front of him. Sakura sunk a little further down into her seat, feeling a bit nerved by the ongoing stare.

"Your chakra felt like it wanted to 'escape'?"

Sakura nodded her head to the question. Gai pursed his lips slightly as she nodded to the question.

"It seems that when you had the sudden 'growth spurt' that your chakra adapted as well by increasing."

Sakura gave him a look of 'no-really?' as she reburied her nose back into her cup.

"It just felt like when I was trying to control it felt that it was overflowing the grips of my control….it…"

Sakura leaned a little more back into her seat trying to come up with a better way in explaining her training 'experience' last night.

"No, it makes sense Sakura." Gia offered. "You wanted control but your chakra fought against you."

"What am I doing wrong then? I'm doing all the methods that my teachers have taught me. Why is my chakra fighting against me now?"

Gai narrowed his eyebrows in thought of the question. He remained silent for a bit before he answered her.

"I really can not answer that," He finally said. "But I think due to the sudden jump, your body is doing a natural fight-or-flight response."

Sakura slumped a little in her seat. Her thoughts went over Gai's last comment.

"So my body is reacting to my chakra like its some antigen while at the same time my body is trying to adapt to the sudden chakra change." Sakura said with a medical tone of voice.

Gai's eyebrows rose hearing his exact thoughts.

"Exactly said."

Sakura sunk a little lower into her seat thinking over what she just heard. She didn't want to admit it but she needed to be retrained. Her jade gaze unwillingly floated over the table and landed on the man before her. And Gai was the one that was willing to train her. She was at a dilemma and Gai knew this.

At the present moment she could not ask any of the instructors that she already knew due to having previous engagements or having present complications in the matters of friendships.

Sakura weighted her options. She could take up training with Gai and be ridiculed for being with the "Green Beast" of Konoha or she could not take his offer and figure out her problem on her own.

Her pride wanted to refuse the offer but another part of her wanted his help. The part of her tried to reason with her other half saying that she had come too far to not get any help from someone.

A memory floated to her mind. In an old conversation with TenTen, she said that Gai was able to match the abilities and skill of the Akatsuki member Kisame. Gai, in return, released Four Gates in order to defeat the missing-nin. Gai's skill as a shinobi can be considered extraordinary and amazing, but his taste in style is quiet lacking.

Sakura took a breath to further weigh her options.

She needed to be trained.

A sigh escaped Sakura.

"Fine."

Gai lifted a shaggy eyebrow.

"Pardon?" he asked. Sakura's gaze went to the contents of her teacup, which she found suddenly interesting.

"I accept in you training me."

It grew silent between the both of them. Sakura slowly raised her gaze to meet Gai's. She found his lip quivering and tears running down his face. Sakura suddenly felt awkward having a grown man start crying in front of her.

"But I want one condition," she quickly added before Gai collected himself. "No green spandex."

Gai swallowed and returned a sparkling grin in her direction.

"Alright, meet me tomorrow morning at nine o'clock in training field five and we will start from there."

He got up from his chair and stretched his arms above his head. Sakura allowed a small grin to leak onto her lips as she took another drink from her cup.

"But Sakura," Gai started. Sakura looked up noticing the sudden switch of tone in her soon to be 'sensei'. "I might want to warn you that, not many people finish their training with me."

Sakura suddenly had a chill go down her spine.

"The last time I had an individual like yourself ask me to train them, they never returned…"

There was another lengthy pause between the both of them. Sakura's coffee suddenly got cold from Gai's looming comment.

Sakura swallowed trying to shake off Gai's impressive imitation of Yamato-sensei's scary face.

"That's still not going to prevent me from training with you. Let me remind you that I survived Tsunade-shishou's training when I was a genin."

Gai's back straightened at the mention of her name.

"Then I see nothing holding you back." Gai enthusiastically saluted. Sakura couldn't help but stare at him in disbelief. The 'Green Beast' was going to her sensei and she couldn't do anything about it.

Sakura watched Gai, no her Sensei walk down the street after giving her an enthusiastic wave.

_I hope you are ready for a day of hell tomorrow morning _Inner Sakura stated.

"Believe me, my hell has not even started yet."

"I hope you are ready for a excellent day of training!"

Sakura blinked at her 'sensei'. He was wearing the same thing he wore yesterday, flak jacket and infamous green full body spandex. He was giving her his trademark grin with extended thumbs up.

Currently she didn't know what to make of the situation.

"I'll be ready as I'll ever be." she muttered as she adjusted her elbow guards.

Gai gave her an appraising look. She still decided to wear her traditional sleeveless vest sporting the trademark white hollow circle on her back. A double compartment hip pack encircled her waist so she was able to carry her needed medic supplies while being on the field. Over her black spandex shorts, a kunai pack hugged her right upper thigh, which sat on top of tightly wrapped bandages. Her outfit was similar to the outfit she previously wore before the incident with a few minor added adjustments like the short sleeve fishnet under armor she wore under her sleeveless vest.

He nodded approving her choice of garment. She had a hankering he was wondering what she did with the shin guards he persuaded her to buy.

"You can discard your hip pack for now. You won't be needing your medical supplies for a while."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the remark as she silently removed her hip pack.  
"Before we even start your special training, I am afraid you are going to have to get back into shape before we begin strenuous training."

A huffed escaped Sakura. Gai only gave her a flashy smile.

"For two weeks straight, I want you to complete 100 sets of 100 of crunches, pull ups, push ups, and squats."

Sakura again raised both eyebrows.

"I also want you to wear these." Gai said.

A scroll appeared in his hand, after a couple of seals a pair of wrist and ankle weights appeared in his hands. He extended the weights for her to take; once Sakura took them she nearly fell over due to how heavy they were.

"For two weeks do 100 sets of 100?" she asked confirming what she just was told.

Sakura quickly settled the weights next to pack to relieve herself of the weight. Gai settled himself in a lotus position not far from her.

"Yes. But Sakura I want you to complete all those sets in a single day while wearing those weights."

Sakura's jaw dropped as she watched her sensei settle into a comfortable yoga position.

"But it will take more than two weeks of training in order for me to do all of them." she stuttered.

"I know, until you are able to wear those weights without actually feeling their presence will you then be able to complete all those sets in a single day."

"But Gai-sensei—"

"Tut, Tut Sakura-chan. Think about your training later. Come over here, there is something I want to show you."

Sakura swallowed her pride and crossed over to her sensei and sat down in the same position he was sitting in.

She was sitting cross-legged on the ground with the bottoms of her feet were facing up toward the sky; this was called the Lotus position in yoga.

"Sakura what do you know of chakras?" Gai asked. Sakura gave him a mystified look.

"I know that chakra is in all of us living things. It's an energy system that lives through us. I know that Shinobi use the chakra elements as their lifeline and basis of their specialty attacks."

He nodded his head agreeing with her brief analysis.

"You are partially correct but it seems you don't know the full description of what is chakra.

"You are correct when you say that Shinobi use the chakra elements to ground their style of attacking but there are more than the four basic elements. Like you said, chakra resides within all living organisms. In total there are seven different chakras that reside within a human body. They start at the crown of your head to all the way down to the tip of your spinal column.

"As you are training, I want you to become in sync with your body and chakras. In order for you to do that, you need to become aware of all the chakra systems within you.

Sakura gave him a perplexed look trying to understand where this conversation was going.

"In addition to your physical training, I want you to come to this training ground at dawn to go through some yoga and tai chi exercises."

Sakura opened her mouth to respond to his remark.

"I know I am putting a lot on you Sakura, but you need to become in sync with your body. As a Shinobi, it is imperative that your chakra flow not be obstructed from its natural flow."

Gai paused in his explaining to see her reaction.

Everything made sense but then a great deal of it did not. Sakura was beginning to question Gai's training methods.

"But for now, I want to teach you how to breathe."

Sakura blinked.

"How to breathe?" Sakura repeated.

"Yes. As I said earlier your body needs to become in sync with itself once more and one way of doing that is to breath."

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Now I want you to relax and close your eyes."

Sakura stared at him.

"Would you please."

Sakura obliged him and closed them.

"Now focus on nothing but my voice and the natural sounds around you.

Sakura took a breath and began blocking out the sounds of the streets, the sounds of vendors, children, and city life.

"Take a slow breath in. Hold it for seven seconds. Release for another seven. Breath in for seven…

The morning carried on like this. The breathing exercise caused Sakura's mind to clear and relax. But at the same time her senses seemed to heighten because all she could hear was the sound of the wind, the birds, the trees, the animal life about her.

After what seemed like hours Gai had her open her eyes.

"Now how do you feel?"

Sakura took a breath and analyzed what happened.

"Amazingly refreshed. Are you supposed to hear nothing but the sounds of life around you?"

Gai nodded.

"Sometimes human beings surround themselves with the everyday noises of the city and don't take the time to break apart and reconnect with the earth." The Green Beast stated.

Sakura rose an eyebrow and quirked her lips. Gai must have saw the skepticism in her expression.

"I know this sounds rather far fetched and unrealistic but as a Shinobi, one must know what the earth sounds like and know what is real and what is not. You will find yourself in a place where you can't rely on your sight or ninja like senses. Listening to the earth and the natural sounds from the earth will alert you of danger and potentially save your life."

Sakura silently took in his words. Gai gave her a small smile.

"Now I want you to repeat that breathing pattern and follow me in some Zen like exercise."

Her morning ended off in a good note, minus the aggravation of finding that a man double her age can be more flexible than she can. But she was finding Gai's teaching positive and damn right hard. The breathing pattern Gai had her practice had to be maintained while she performed the various yoga and tai chi maneuvers.

Gai told her that she would start breathing like what she was practicing once her body gets used to it. He also said that after a while her breathing will be calmer and more controlled once she starts her training.

Her training left her in a very good mood due to the fact that she was able to breath. A part of her was not looking forward to the rigorous training schedule Gai pushed upon on her, but another part of her wanted it. It was about time she put aside her concerns and worries and take a step as a woman.

Sakura returned to work that following Monday, refreshed and sore. All she did was Tai chi and yoga but it still left her feeling sore. She hadn't done any rigorous exercise in weeks and her body was taking a toll. It was only going to get worse once she started conditioning that day. That mornings Tai chi lessons were frustrating but she was determined. After her lessons with Gai, she went back home to change and get ready for work. Oddly enough, Sakura still had enough time to get ready for work after her morning lessons. Add a couple of points in her Responsibility Chart.

Work was busy and troublesome. Many of the interns and nurses came to her for help when something went terribly wrong. Even though she was Head Floor Nurse, she still was new to the position. Not to mention the medical terminology. Some of the older nurses and doctors did not appreciate her sudden rise in the ranks. She could only suspect they thought it was due to her being the apprentice to the Hokage. She gave them credit, she did not know a lot but that did not prevent her to showing authority. On her spare time, Sakura was still studying and cracking the books.

Sakura sighed as she went through a list of patients to assign to the various nurses. It was a Monday and already at least twenty patients were assigned to her floor. Each patient ranged in ailments but their ages gave each patient their specific need. She glanced at the clock, noticing that it was barely noon.

"Well time to get to work."

Three hours later, she was done assigning tasks to the various nurse stations and finished checking patient rooms. She wanted to make sure that all her patients on her floor were well taken cared of. Even though she may be not the nurse in charge of a patient, she was in charge of the nurse taking care of the patient. It is her job to know if her nurses are doing their jobs and that their patients are comfortable.

She walked back into her office and threw herself into her desk chair while kicking off her heels in the process. The chair swiveled side to side, which she allowed in her tired state. It was past her lunch break and she was starving. She heard someone move and Sakura moved her eyes in the direction of the noise.

Jade orbs moved over toward the couch and sitting on her couch was Hinata Hyuga.

The girl looked in her direction and then quickly drew her attention back down to her hands clasped in her lap.

"Sakura-chan." she whispered.

Sakura sat up, not really deciding how to make of this interaction.

"Hinata what brings you here?" she asked.

She couldn't help but see the almost pained like expression on the girls face when she spoke. Did she truly not sound like the Sakura she grew up with? There was another pause of silence.

"Sakura-chan." Hinata began again. "I need your help."


End file.
